The localisation ROI problem
You can localise into 77 languages on Google Play. You probably have time to do 3–5 well. Which ones actually move the needle?
The answer depends on three variables: market size, competition density, and user spending power. The combination of all three — not any one in isolation — determines whether a new language is worth adding.
Here's the ranked breakdown.
Tier 1: Highest return, localise these first
German (de)
Germany has one of the highest revenue-per-user rates in the world for Android apps. German users are accustomed to seeing proper German in app listings and are noticeably less likely to install apps with English-only or poor-quality translated listings. A well-translated German listing in a productivity or utility category can increase German market downloads by 30–50%.
Effort: High — German users notice bad translation. Use DeepL + manual review, or an AI tool trained on store copy.
Japanese (ja)
Japan is consistently in the top 5 grossing markets globally. Japanese users have extremely high expectations for localisation quality — a poor machine translation is worse than English-only because it damages trust.
Effort: Very high for quality. If you can't get a native review, start with Korean or German instead and come back to Japanese when you have budget.
Brazilian Portuguese (pt-BR)
Brazil is the largest Android market in Latin America and one of the top 10 globally by download volume. Competition from indie English-language apps is relatively low, meaning a localised listing can capture significant organic ranking quickly.
Effort: Low-medium. Brazilian Portuguese is well-served by AI translation tools. Quality matters less than in German/Japanese — users are forgiving of small errors.
Korean (ko)
South Korea has disproportionately high Android market share (Samsung dominance) and high in-app purchase rates. Like Japan, quality matters — rough translation hurts more than it helps.
Effort: High for quality. Machine translation output should be reviewed by a native speaker before publishing.
Tier 2: Large markets, high volume, moderate return
Spanish — Latin America (es-419)
Covers Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru and more. Enormous combined population, rapidly growing smartphone adoption. Revenue per user is lower than Tier 1 markets but download volume can be very high.
Best for: Utility apps, games, social apps.
Spanish — Spain (es-ES)
Separate listing from Latin American Spanish. Spain has higher per-user spending. Worth doing separately if you have the Spanish copy already.
French (fr)
France, Belgium, Switzerland, Canada (Quebec). Respectable revenue per user, large combined market. French users are sensitive to quality — run it through DeepL and do a basic review pass.
Italian (it)
Italy is an underserved market for many indie app categories. Competition from localised apps is lower than Germany or France, meaning a good Italian listing can rank well with modest effort.
Tier 3: Volume plays (high download count, lower revenue)
Hindi (hi)
India is the #1 country by Android download volume globally. Revenue per download is low for most paid/subscription apps, but free apps with ad monetisation can see significant traffic from a Hindi listing. The Play Store in India is highly competitive.
Indonesian (id)
Large market, rapidly growing, very low competition from English-language apps. Works best for utility, productivity, and entertainment apps.
Turkish (tr)
Mid-size market with growing smartphone penetration. Lower competition than Western European markets. Good for apps targeting younger demographics.
What the data consistently shows
The single highest-ROI action for most English-language indie apps is adding German, then Brazilian Portuguese. These two alone often account for 20–40% of non-English market uplift.
Japanese and Korean have higher revenue potential but require quality investment. Do them when you can do them properly.
Do not localise into a language you cannot maintain. Every time you update your English listing, the localised versions become outdated. Out-of-date localisations can hurt more than help once users start leaving reviews mentioning the mismatch.
Checking your own data first
Before following any generalised ranking, check Play Console → Statistics → Countries. Sort by installs. If you already have organic installs from a country without a localised listing, that market is already finding you — add the localisation and watch installs accelerate.
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