Nowadays, people’s lives are on their phones. They take notes, have meetings, listen to music, and even control the lights in their home from their smartphones.
And they use different mobile apps to do all that. So it comes as no surprise that apps have been increasing in popularity.
We have collected some fascinating app revenue statistics that are here not only to stay but also to grow.
Telling App Revenue Facts (Editor's Choice):
- The total revenue of apps for 2020 across Google Play and iOS stores was $111 billion.
- Industry insiders expect app revenues to reach $270 billion by 2025.
- In March 2020, the downloads of business apps worldwide increased by 90%.
- According to app revenue statistics for 2021, users have spent more than $380 billion on in-app purchases.
- In 2020, 61% of US website visits came from mobile devices and 35.7%—from desktop.
- 21% of Millennials report opening an app more than 50 times per day.
Revenue for Apps
App earnings have been growing steadily throughout the years. When the pandemic began in early 2020 and people were forced to spend most of their time indoors, mobile applications became the sole source of communication and fun.
Ultimately, this led to a remarkable increase in app revenue for the past seven quarters.
1. The total app profit in 2020 across Google Play and iOS stores was $111 billion.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Apps earned $22 billion more in 2020 than they did in 2019. Over 60% of the revenue comes from Apple’s App Store.
2. Mobile app revenue grew by over 15% from Q3 2020 to Q3 2021.
(Source: Sensor Tower)
Consumers’ spending on mobile apps and games increased from $29.2 billion in Q3 2020 to $33.6 billion in Q3 2021.
Although Google Play saw a larger increase in purchases that year, the amount Apple consumers spent on the App Store was larger.
3. The top three most profitable apps in the US for Q2 2021 are YouTube, HBO Max, and Tinder.
(Source: Forbes)
The top ten list is mainly dominated by streaming companies and dating apps. Here are all of them:
- YouTube
- HBO Max
- Tinder
- Disney+
- Twitch
- Pandora Music
- Google One
- BIG LIVE
- Hulu
- Bumble App
4. China accounted for 40% of the global app revenue in 2019.
(Source: Forbes)
According to 2019 app revenue data, 40% of spendings came from Chinese mobile users.
Furthermore, China’s app stores are growing rapidly and host more apps than Google Play and App Store.
5. Gaming apps were the top apps by revenue between September 2019 and August 2020.
(Source: Statista)
App revenue stats show that games were the leading category in that period.
They generated more than $49 million in Google Play and the App Store.
6. In Q1 2021, the number of Android apps on Google Play was 3.48 million.
(Source: Statista)
This made Google Play the biggest app store worldwide. The Apple App Store came second, with around 2.22 million apps.
7. The arcade game “Snake” is the first mobile app.
(Source: Inventionland)
A built-in version of the arcade game “Snake” was included in the 1997 Nokia 6110 phone. Many consider this the first mobile app.
8. Users aged 18-24 spend the most time on apps monthly.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Mobile app demographics data shows that users in the 18-24 age group spend 112.6 hours on apps monthly.
Next come the consumers aged 25-34 and 35-44, with 102.4 and 93.6 hours, respectively.
9. The number of downloaded apps and games in 2020 was 142.9 billion.
(Source: Business of Apps)
App downloads stats reveal that of those 142.9 billion, 86.7 billion were apps. Of the remaining, 56.1 billion were games.
Most downloads—108.5 billion—came from Android devices.
10. China was the leading country by downloads in 2020.
(Source: Business of Apps)
According to app downloads statistics, China accounts for 96.2 billion app downloads.
Next come India and the US, with 24.2 and 13.3 billion, respectively.
11. TikTok was the app with the most downloads in 2020.
(Source: Apptopia)
TikTok took the world by storm in early 2020. By the end of the year, 850 million users worldwide had downloaded it.
The next nine most used mobile apps in 2020 were WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Zoom, Messenger, Snapchat, Telegram, Google Meet, and Netflix.
iOS App Revenue
So far, we have examined the combined app revenue stats for Google Play and App Store. Now, it is time to take a look at them separately.
Let’s start with the app revenue statistics for the Apple App Store.
12. iOS’ app advertising revenue for 2021 was estimated at $3 billion.
(Source: Barron's)
Predictions are that it will reach $10 billion by 2024. The majority of its earnings come from search ads.
13. Almost 94% of the App Store apps are free.
(Source: 42matters)
As of December 2021, 93.8% of all available apps on the Apple App Store are free of charge. However, most of them offer or even require in-app purchases.
14. On average, the App Store publishes 747 new apps daily.
(Source: 42matters)
This reveals data from the beginning of 2022. In December 2021, the store published more than 27,000 new applications.
15. As of 2018, Facebook was the most downloaded app on the App Store.
(Source: Evening Standard)
Apple App Store celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2018. A list of the most downloaded apps ever was created for the occasion.
The leader was Facebook. Next came Facebook Messenger, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp Messenger, Google Maps, Snapchat, Skype, WeChat, and QQ.
What do you think the list would look like today? Let’s see!
16. In October 2021, WhatsApp Messenger was the most downloaded app on the App Store.
(Source: Statista)
In October 2021, WhatsApp Messenger reached 10.48 million downloads.
It was followed by TikTok, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, League of Legends: Wild Rift, Retro Bowl, Telegram Messenger, Netflix, WeChat, and Candy Challenge 3D.
17. The most popular category in the Apple App Store is Games.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Games take 21.86% of all apps available on the iOS store.
Next comes Business (10.11%), then Education (8.68%), Lifestyle (8.62%), and Tools (6.12%).
18. The 2020 iOS game revenue was $47.6 billion.
(Source: Business of Apps)
The game revenue of the App Store has been growing since its launch.
In 2020, the iOS game sales generated $47.6 billion. This marked a fascinating increase of $9.6 billion from the previous year.
19. The Apple App Store revenue was $72.3 billion in 2020.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Stats show the app revenue for Apple and Google Play combined was $111 billion.
Even though Apple’s users are fewer than Android’s, they seem to spend more.
20. App Store’s market share is less than 15% worldwide.
(Source: Business of Apps)
That said, Apple is most popular in the US, the UK, and Japan. Android, on the other hand, rules the market in Brazil, Spain, and India.
Put that way, App Store’s larger revenue is starting to make sense. The former group has a bigger revenue per user.
Android App Revenue
Did some of the iOS app revenue stats surprise you?
Let’s see if Google Play hides any surprises.
21. Google Play’s revenue in 2020 was $38.6 billion.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Android app sales have increased by 167% from 2016 to 2020.
That can be linked to the growing average revenue per user in developing countries where Android phones are most popular.
22. Android game revenue jumped by 6.7% in 2020.
(Source: Business of Apps)
Gaming apps accounted for $31.9 billion of the total Google Play revenue in 2020.
That was a 6.7% increase from the $25.2 billion generated in 2019.
23. The most popular game amongst Android users is Subway Surfers.
(Source: TheTool)
The endless runner mobile game was released in 2012. Since then, it has accumulated an impressive 1,352,609,412 downloads.
The next nine games in the list are Candy Crush Saga, My Talking Tom, Pou, Temple Run 2, Hill Climb Racing, Clash of Clans, 8 Ball Pool, My Talking Angela, and Temple Run.
24. Google Play had a 70% market share in 2017.
(Source: Tech Crunch)
The number of Android users and downloads made Google Play a leader in the app store business. It held 70% of the global market share in 2017.
25. Games are the most popular category of apps on the Google Play store.
(Source: Statista)
In the first quarter of 2021, games accounted for 13.72% of all app downloads.
Next comes the category “Education,” with a 9.31% share.
26. An app can generate around $82,500 per day.
(Source: CREATIVE.onl)
According to app revenue statistics, the top 200 apps on the App Store generate around $82,500 per day collectively. This number drops to about $3,500 in the top 800.
On average, apps make between $0.60 to $1.20 per download. Free apps make money through paid advertising. They profit when an ad is displayed, clicked on, or installed.
27. Less than 0.01% of apps make money.
(Source: Toptal)
It is crazy to think that not even 0.01% percent of apps on the App Store make money. But with millions of options available, the competition is fierce.
28. TikTok is still on top of the charts.
(Source: Screen Rant)
TikTok is both the most downloaded and most profitable app in 2021. It has become the first non-Facebook-owned app to reach three billion downloads.
Wrap Up
App revenue statistics show how dependent people have become on their phones.
The ever-increasing downloads and revenue of App Store and Google Play suggest that they will continue to be the leaders on the market.
Sources
Unaware that life beyond the internet exists, Nick is poking servers and control panels, playing with WordPress add-ons, and helping people get the hosting that suits them.
