Appfigures: Global app market consumer spending will reach $127 billion in 2024, up 15.7% year-on-year

The global app economy continues to recover in 2024 – at least in terms of consumer spending – after slowing down in 2022. Global consumer spending on mobile apps and games across the App Store and Google Play will reach $127 billion in 2024, up 15.7% year-over-year. However, these gains are driven by Apple’s App Store as spending on Google Play declines, according to new data from app intelligence firm Appfigures.

Despite the growth in spending, there was another worrying sign for the overall health of the app ecosystem. Global app downloads fell 2.3% this year to nearly 110 billion compared to 2023. The data showed that this decline was seen in both app stores.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen signs that the massive growth of the app ecosystem may finally be starting to flatten out. As the app economy matures, the recent focus has been on generating revenue from apps consumers already use through ongoing subscriptions, rather than driving them to download new or paid apps.

Appfigures found that it is worth noting that only 5% of apps worldwide offered subscription services last year, but they accounted for 48% of app revenue in both app stores. In addition, the top ten apps in terms of global revenue generated 13.7% of consumer spending, an increase of 1.2% from 12.5% ​​in 2023.

Meanwhile, today’s innovation is largely focused on artificial intelligence, a trend that Apple has largely ignored in its App of the Year awards in past years, with the award going to video app Kino in 2024 and hiking app AllTrails in 2023.

At the same time, the decline in app downloads is also a trend in both app markets.

Of the total 110 billion downloads in 2024, iOS will see 28.3 billion downloads, down 1.1% year-over-year. Android app downloads on Google Play will be 81.4 billion, down 2.6% year-over-year. Another report found that app downloads were essentially flat last year.

To some extent, the decline in downloads is also related to the way Apple and Google Play manage their app stores in 2024.

Google, in particular, cracked down on spam and other low-quality apps last year, resulting in a 60% drop in new apps released on Google Play, likely due to increased requirements for developers in terms of app testing and app review.

iOS downloads in the U.S. fell 5.3% to 6.1 billion, and U.S. Google Play app downloads fell 0.7% to 4.4 billion. For the full year, U.S. app downloads fell 3.4% to about 10.6 billion.

Instagram, not TikTok, was the most downloaded app in 2024, with nearly 640 million installs. In addition to Instagram, other top social apps such as Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok also surpassed X in searches in 2024.

However, Appfigures found that Temu is the most downloaded app in the U.S., with 48 million installs. Apple also recently confirmed that Temu is the most downloaded U.S. app on its App Store.

Mexico will see the largest increase in app downloads in 2024, with 225 million more installations than in 2023.

In terms of revenue, the app economy is still making money for developers and app stores, at least in the Apple App Store.

In 2024, total global consumer spending was $127 billion, of which $91.6 billion came from the App Store, a year-on-year increase of 24%. Global consumer spending on Google Play fell 1.5% year-on-year to $35.7 billion.

US users spent $47.6 billion, up 11% year-on-year, accounting for a large portion of the entire pie. (Apple App Store revenue in the US was $34.4 billion, up 18.4% year-on-year, while Google Play revenue in the US fell 4.7% to $13.2 billion by 2024).

The world’s top-grossing app by consumer spending is TikTok, with about $2.5 billion on iOS and Android, not including Chinese app stores. TikTok is also the top app in the U.S., pulling in nearly $1.3 billion.

Brazil was the fastest growing market in terms of consumer spending, up 73% year-on-year.

From Chinese Industry Information Station