Installs of Language Apps in Europe Surpassed 20 Million in Q1 2022

Sensor Tower’s Store Intelligence platform reveals that in 2021, installs of Language Learning apps in Europe reached 71 million, with the Multilingual and Kids categories dominating the download charts for the year. In our new State of Language Apps in Europe report, we analyzed download and consumer spending trends among the top Language Learning apps between 2019 and the beginning of 2022 in European markets.

Consumer Spending Remains High

In addition to being the top Language apps by downloads, Duolingo, Babbel, and Mondly were the top grossing Language Learning apps in Europe in 2021. Consumer spending for the category rose more than 60 percent year-over-year in 2020, boosted by unusually high spend early in the COVID-19 pandemic. Duolingo accounted for more than 40 percent of all consumer spending. We predict consumer spending to reach nearly $100 million in the second half of 2022, or $400 per minute.

Duolingo Controls A Majority of The Language App Space

Duolingo is favored among young Europeans, with the app having nearly 30 thousand installs per day. The United Kingdom is Duolingo’s largest market, with the app controlling two-thirds of the Language learning apps space, followed by Turkey, with the app controlling over half of the market share in the country.

Busuu, on the other hand, is most popular among those under 35 years old and Babbel’s user base is popular among users in the 45+ age range.

Advertisers Focus On Facebook and Desktop Display Ads

Outstanding Language Learning advertisers in Europe adjusted their advertising strategies to implement more Facebook and display ads in 2021, accounting for 41 and 44 percent of their budgets, respectively, across the U.K. and Germany. 

First-time installs of Duolingo increased the most in Germany and Turkey since 2019. The popularity of the app has gone on par with its push to increase ads spend from 2019 to 2021 to approximately $100 thousand. Overall, Babbel led in ad spend, allocating over $20 million in digital ads across Germany and the U.K. in 2021.

Language Apps Will Continue Growing

The emergence of a new pandemic in 2019 has not diminished the interest of learning new languages. User adoption has, in fact, increased, showing strong growth between 2020 and 2022. Our forecast shows that installs of Language Learning apps will continue growing in the short term, with downloads increasing 38 percent from 1Q19 the first quarter of 2022.

To discover more for yourself, dive into Sensor Tower’s Store Intelligence platform, which provides key insights on the latest app download, revenue, and usage trends. For more data on advertiser spend, explore our Pathmatics solution.

Get the full State of Language Apps in Europe report in PDF form below: