The surge in smartphone usage in Indonesia has fuelled a boom in mobile messaging apps, with the number of WeChat users expanding 895 per cent and WhatsApp users increasing 133 per cent over the past year.

Facebook Messenger, increasing 112 per cent, was the third fastest growing messaging app, followed by Skype, which grew 108 per cent, according a survey by GlobalWebIndex.

The survey results, completed in Q3 and reported by the Jakarta Post, showed that WhatsApp is the most widely used messaging app — 34 per cent of Indonesia’s internet users have the app, followed by Facebook Messenger (28 per cent), WeChat and Skype (both 18 per cent). BlackBerry Messenger wasn’t included in the survey due to its small user base.

The number of mobile messaging app users in the country increased 45 per cent from a year ago.

The research firm estimates that 62 per cent of the country’s internet users connect via their mobile devices.

Smartphone penetration is estimated at just 21 per cent, which is low by regional standards – Vietnam’s is 36 per cent. The number of smartphone users is forecast to increase from about 61 million this year to 75 million next year.