To which language should you translate to localize in Indonesia?
What we know from our community
As one of the largest multilingual countries in the world, the linguistic landscape in Indonesia is extremely diverse and complex with many languages coexisting and influencing one another. Thus the existence of “Bahasa Indonesia” (which literally means “Indonesian language”) that serves as a unifying force for the country. It is estimated that around 85-90% of the population speaks Indonesian. It is used as the official language in education, government, and media.
But when it comes to how many Indonesians speak Bahasa Indonesia as their first language, the answer would be only less than a quarter of the population speak Indonesian as their primary language. It’s quite hard to give an exact percentage of language usage in Indonesia, since it’s a vast country and the language usage can vary greatly from region to region. In some areas, local languages are widely spoken, while in other areas, they may be used primarily in the home or in certain social contexts. And yet, most people speak their local languages as their mother tongue. In other words, many Indonesians are trilingual.
LANGUAGE INSIGHT
Official language
Bahasa Indonesia – Variant of the Malay language (12.1%; 34.02 mln)
Actual languages
Javanese (39.4%; 110.78 mln), Sunda (15.8%; 44.42 mln), Malay (12.1%; 34.02 mln), Madura (4.3%; 12.09 mln), Bugi (2.2%; 6.18 mln), Batak (2.1%; 5.90 mln), Banja (1.8%; 5.06 mln), Minangkabau (1.7%; 4.78 mln), Balinesian (1.4%; 3.93 mln), Chinese (0.4%; 1.12 mln), Papuan languages (0.1%; 281k), other (18.7%; 52.5 mln).
What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Indonesia
(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)
67/150 localize by translating into Bahasa Indonesia
1/150 localizes by translating into Bahasa Indonesia and Simplified Chinese
1/150 localizes by translating into Bahasa Indonesia, Simplified Chinese, Hakka, Sindhi, Teochew and Indonesian Sign Language
1/150 localizes by translating into Bahasa Indonesia, French and Simplified Chinese
1/150 localizes by translating into Bahasa Indonesia, French, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, German, Spanish, Italian, Hungarian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Turkish, Russian Japanese, Thai and Ukrainian
1/150 localizes by translating into both French and Simplified Chinese
1/150 localizes by translating into Simplified Chinese
3M
ABB
Accenture
Adidas
Adobe
Airbnb
Aldi
Amazon
American Airlines
American Express
Apple
Audi
Autodesk
Avis
Bayer
BMW
Booking.com
Bosch
British Airways
Bumble
Burberry
BYD
Canon
Capgemini
Cartier
Caterpillar
Chevrolet
Cisco Systems
Citibank
Coca-Cola
Costco
Dell
Deloitte
Delta
DHL
Disney+
Dyson
eBay
Eli Lilly
Emirates
Ernst & Young
Facebook
FedEx
Ford
Four Seasons
Fujifilm
GE
Gillette
GoDaddy
Google
Gucci
Haier
Heineken
Hermès
Hertz
Hilton
Hisense
Hitachi
Honda
Hotels.com
HP
HP Enterprise
HSBC
Huawei
Hyatt
Hyundai
IBM
IKEA
Intel
InterContinental Hotels
J&J
Jack Daniel's
Jehovah’s Witnesses
John Deere
Kellogg's
Kia
KPMG
L'Oréal
Land Rover
LEGO
Lenovo
Lexus
LG
Louis Vuitton
Lululemon
LUSH
Marriott
MasterCard
McDonald's
Mercedes-Benz
Merck
Microsoft
Mitsubishi Electric
Nestlé
Netflix
Nike
Nikon
Nintendo
Nio
Nissan
NIVEA
Oracle
Pampers
Panasonic
PayPal
Pepsi
Pfizer
Philips
Pitney Bowes
Porsche
Procter & Gamble
PWC
Revolut
Rolex
Royal Caribbean
Salesforce
Samsung
Sanofi
SAP
Sephora
Shopify
Siemens
Sony
Spotify
Starbucks
Steelcase
Stripe
Subaru
Tesla
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Tiffany
Tinder
Toshiba
Toyota
TripAdvisor
Uber
United Airlines
UPS
Visa
Volkswagen
Volvo Cars
Vrbo
Walmart
Western Union
Wikipedia
Wise
WordPress
Workday
Xerox
Xiaomi (Mi)
Zara
Zoom
Available in
If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data
Imports $230 billion (2022). Refined Petroleum ($23.2B), Crude Petroleum ($10.1B), Petroleum Gas ($4.92B), Motor vehicles; parts and accessories (8701 to 8705) ($4.19B), and Broadcasting Equipment ($4.01B), importing mostly from China ($71.3B), Singapore ($22.5B), Japan ($14.9B), Malaysia ($12.5B), and Thailand ($10.4B).
In 2022, Indonesia was the world’s biggest importer of Soybean Meal ($2.92B), Raw Sugar ($2.37B), Other Large Iron Pipes ($591M), Industrial Furnaces ($474M), and Steam Boilers ($427M).
Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age) • 50.5% have an account with a financial institution • 1.6% have a credit card • 9.3% have a mobile money account • 5.9% make online purchases
Ease of doing business It is easy to conduct business (rated 69.6 out of 100) ranked 9th out of 25 East Asia-Pacific countries and ranked 73rd out of 190 countries worldwide (2023, World Bank).
Global Innovation Index Ranked 12th out of 16 South-Eastern Asian and Oceanic countries, 61st out of 132 worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Exports $320 billion (2022). Coal Briquettes ($50.8B), Palm Oil ($28.7B), Ferroalloys ($13.7B), Petroleum Gas ($11.8B), and Copper Ore ($8.89B), exporting mostly to China ($67.7B), United States ($31.6B), Japan ($26.6B), India ($25.3B), and Malaysia ($15.6B).
In 2022, Indonesia was the world’s biggest exporter of Palm Oil ($28.7B), Ferroalloys ($13.7B), Lignite ($8.29B), Stearic Acid ($6.84B), and Nickel Mattes ($6.27B).
Main local online stores MercadoLibre, eBay and Amazon, Netshoes, Alibaba, Garbarino.com, Musimundo.com, Frávega, Apple and Cencosud
Economic freedom ‘Moderately free’ (rated 63.5 out of 100) ranked 10th out of 39 Asia-Pacific countries and ranked 53rd out of 184 countries worldwide (2024, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).
At 1,905 million square kilometers with over 275 million people, Indonesia is really a big – both figuratively and literally. Indonesia has 34 provinces, 17,000 islands, and 700 living local languages spoken across the archipelago.
Specialization is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), an index that takes the ratio between Indonesia observed and expected exports in each product.
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start importing that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Market Growth Exports (2020)
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start exporting that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Information channels Television is the most popular medium. Major national commercial networks compete with state-owned Televisi Republik Indonesia (TVRI). The radio dial is crowded, with scores of stations in Jakarta alone. In line with global trends, print newspaper circulations are falling. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) describes as “drastic” the restrictions on media access to the troubled province of West Papua. More generally, it says many journalists self-censor because of the threat from laws on blasphemy and online libel. The authorities can resort to blocking online content deemed to break the law or violate social norms, says Freedom House. The NGO reported restricted access to social media and manipulation of online content during elections in 2019.
Share of web traffic by device 62.83% mobile phones, 36.83% computers (laptops and desktops), 0.34% tablet devices.
Median speed of mobile Internet connection 24.53 Mbps
Median speed of fixed Internet connection 28.34 Mbps
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population:126.8%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G):95.5%
Mostpopular web search engines Google (94.6%), Bing (1.86%), Yahoo! (1.53%), Yandex! (1.02%), DuckDuckGo (0.94%), other (0.05%).
Most used social media Facebook (58.94%), YouTube (34.6%), Instagram (4.83%), Twitter (1.16%), Pinterest (0.32%), VKontakte (0.06%), LinkedIn (0.04%), other (0.03%).
Current education expenditure 88.1% of total expenditure in public institutions
Current health expenditure 3.71% of GDP
Cultural Curiosities Indonesia’s geography, composed of 17,500 islands, means that there are over 300 different ethnicities, and this has led to the development of many micro-cultures with their own customs and traditions.
A common trait is a hierarchical structure that most Indonesians follow, with age usually the overriding feature in determining the level of respect. The elderly are thought to have the most wisdom and are thus considered deserving of more authority.
Graduates In 2017, about 16% of 25–64 year-olds in Indonesia had attained tertiary education, well below the OECD average of 44% and the G20 average of 38% (Figure 1). Bachelor’s programmes are the most popular form of tertiary education among young adults in Indonesia: 12% of 25–34 year-olds have earned a bachelor’s degree, compared to 4% for short-cycle tertiary qualifications. Not many young adults will graduate from a master’s or doctoral degree in Indonesia: only 1% have attained a master’s degree and below 0.01% a doctorate (OECD averages: 14% and 0.8%).
Corruption perceptions Index Indonesia scored 34 out of 100, ranked 110 out of 180 countries worldwide.
CO2 emissions 2.1 metric tons per capita
World Happiness Index Indonesia ranked 87 out of 146 countries, with a score of 5.240.
Bahasa Indonesia is the 11th most spoken language in the world, with over 270 million speakers. The term “bahasa” means “language,” but Bahasa Indonesia refers specifically to the official language of Indonesia. It’s also a second official language in Vietnam, alongside English, French, and Japanese, since 2007. Known for its simplicity and phonetic nature, Bahasa Indonesia plays a key role in unifying the diverse people of Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
Additionally…
Indonesia is the 2nd most linguistically diverse country, with 700+ languages spoken.
It’s the world’s largest archipelago, with 17,508 islands, and it’s the last archipelago state in the world.
It’s the 4th most populous country worldwide, with over 250 million people.
A flourishing democracy, rated the freest in Southeast Asia by Freedom House.
Indonesia’s GDP exceeds US$1 trillion, making it an ASEAN powerhouse.
Java is the world’s most populous island, home to 140+ million people.
Indonesia hosts the world’s largest gold mine.
With 165 million under 30, Indonesia has the world’s largest youth population.
Indonesia was the first developing country to launch its own satellite system (1976).
Positioned between Asia and Oceania, Indonesia is a transcontinental country.
The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com
Languages research
Languages spoken in Indonesia
Legend
Acehnese
Toba Batak
Malay
Lampung
Madurese
Sasak
Banjarese
Maanyan
Others Austronesian Languages
Bugis
Toraja
Gorontalo
Non Austronesian Languages
Minahasa
Mongondow
Kaili
Makassarese
Uab Meto
Kei
Wos Byak
Savu
Sikka-Maumere
Balinese
Javanese
Sundanese
Beati
Minangkabau
Languages in percentages
Bahasa Indonesian
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
Photo credit: Ruben Hutabarat, Unsplash
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