The global app economy continues to generate significant revenue after a slowdown in 2022, as consumer spending intensifies.
In 2024, global consumer spending in mobile apps and games reached $127 billion across the App Store and Google Play Store, up 15.7% from the prior year. The increase in consumer spending was largely driven by Appstore which recorded a 24% year-over-year increase. In contrast, Google Play Store’s global revenue declined by 1.5% totaling $35.7 billion.
However, despite the recovery in consumer spending this year, there were concerns about the overall health of the app ecosystem. This year, app downloads were down by 2.3%, compared with 2023, reaching nearly 110 billion. This downward trend was seen across both app stores. Of the total 110 billion downloads in 2024, iOS downloads accounted for 28.3 billion installs, a decline of 1.1% year-over-year. Android app downloads on Google Play Store were down 2.6% to 81.4 billion.
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The U.S. emerged as a dominant contributor to the global app economy, with consumer spending hitting $47.6 billion, an 11% increase from the previous year. Apple App Store revenue in the U.S. surged by 18.4% to $34.4 billion, while Google Play Store saw a 4.7% decline, dropping to $13.2 billion. Instagram emerged as the most downloaded app in 2024 with close to 640 million installs. It was also the most searched-for app in the U.S.
Along with Instagram, other top social apps including Snapchat, Facebook, and TikTok were also searched for in 2024. However, Temu was the most downloaded app in the U.S. with 48 million installs. The popularity of the e-commerce platform has been surging since its debut in the fall of 2022. In October 2024, the app was downloaded more than 52 million times all over the world, making it more popular than Amazon’s marketplace app.
Just recently, the Chinese e-commerce platform topped Apple’s list of the most downloaded free apps on its U.S. iOS store for the second year running, highlighting the massive success that Chinese apps are enjoying in the world’s largest consumer market.
TikTok continued its reign as the most lucrative app globally, as it remains the most used app globally, with more than one billion monthly active users. The short-form video platform generated an estimated $2.5 billion in consumer spending across iOS and Android (excluding Chinese app stores). TikTok also dominated in user engagement, as global app spending hit almost $200 billion in 2024, reflecting increased interest in both entertainment and e-commerce platforms. In the U.S., TikTok was also the highest-grossing app, earning nearly $1.3 billion.
These figures underscore the resilience of the app economy, with the Apple App Store outperforming its competitors and consumer favorites like TikTok driving significant global spending.