25 Mobile App Statistics and Numbers

Many trace the origins of apps back to 1983 when Steve Jobs flagged the evolution of a new digital distribution system that would see people download software over phone lines. This happened almost a quarter of a century before the first iPhone. With the impact of apps surpassing perhaps even Jobs’ expectations, we prepared the most significant apps statistics to give you an overview of the industry and latest trends.

Apps Statistics (Editor’s Choice)

• In 2020, consumers downloaded 218 billion apps.
• Apple & Google control over 95% of the app store market (excluding China).
• The average person has around 80 apps on their phone.
• Google Play Store has around 3.5 million apps.
• In 2020, revenues for Android and iOS apps reached $111 billion worldwide.
• The mobile app market will grow at a CAGR of 21% between 2021 and 2025.
• In 2019, 25% of downloaded apps were opened only once.
• Mobile commerce sales will reach $3.56 trillion in 2021.

Essential App Download Statistics

1. In 2020, consumers downloaded 218 billion apps.

Compared to the year before, it’s 14 billion more, representing a 6% increase. It also marks a 45% rise from 2016, when mobile app usage was much lower than today — people worldwide downloaded around 140.7 billion apps.

(Statista)

2. Over 90% of apps in the stores are free.

Yes, that is true. Paid apps are likely a thing of the past, with apps download statistics showing that those charging for the download are slowly dwindling. Advertising is how 31% of app makers or owners make money, followed by contract work/commissioned apps with 23%. Pay per download went down to third place with 20%. Other methods include consumable in-app purchases (16%) and subscriptions (14%).

(Space-O Technologies)

3. Apple & Google control over 95% of the app store market (excluding China).

They do that through iOS and Android, respectively. Both of these operating systems offer some apps by default but also allow developers to introduce new ones. According to app store statistics, in less than five years into production, both saw over a million games and apps, generating compelling revenue figures. Today, this app economy is worth around $6.3 trillion.

(Business of Apps)

4. In 2020, people downloaded TikTok an astounding 850 million times.

China’s video-sharing social network topped the most downloaded apps in 2020. WhatsApp took second place with 600 million downloads, followed by Facebook with 540 million. Next, Instagram saw around 503 million downloads, and in sixth place, we had Messenger with around 404 million downloads, raking in a total of 2.05 billion downloads for Mark Zukerberg’s assets.

(Apptopia)

5. Gaming apps scored a record 14 billion downloads in Q2 2020.

It seems that COVID-19 has made a boost to the already thriving app industry. For reference, the same quarter saw nearly 35 billion new app downloads and spending of $27 billion. Mobile app download statistics point out that weekly downloads of games stayed at around $1 billion, marking an increase of 20% year-over-year. Consumers further spent over $19 billion on purchases through the app stores.

(Venture Beat)

6. The Apple App Store features 2.22 million apps.

This made the Apple App Store the second-largest platform, after Google Play. Although Google Play has more apps at customer’s disposal, Apple found a way to monetize its content in the mobile store. The company accumulated $19 billion in revenue from iPhone app downloads, statistics confirm.

(Statista)

7. Android users have about 3.5 million apps at their disposal.

The numbers are slightly higher than the last quarter of 2020 when there were 3.14 million apps. Out of this number, 96.7% are free apps. Based on the Android app download statistics, nearly a million apps on this store have reviews with an average rating of between 4 and 5 stars. If we look at app popularity, people have installed TikTok from this platform over 1.5 billion times,  making it the top downloaded product. If we count in the App Store downloads, TikTok has been downloaded over 2 billion times.

(Statista, Sensor Tower)

8. The most downloaded game of the 2010s was Subway Surfers.

The main driver behind this tremendous growth lies in the game’s popularity in India. Its adoption in India accounts for 15% of all downloads for the game on both of the platforms. In line with the app store download statistics, each top game originated from a different company. Therefore, it’s hard to determine the reasons behind the success of all of them. For instance, Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga are the only two apps to find their place in the top 10 for consumer spending and the number of downloads of an app.

(App Annie)

9. The average number of downloads per app in the US is 1.24 million, mobile app download stats show.

On the other hand, this number is much lower globally, at around 149,000 per app. It seems, however, that the average smartphone user in the US downloads zero apps monthly. In fact, only one-third of them download one to three apps. That leads to the conclusion that the top 7% of smartphone users generate nearly half of all monthly downloads.

(Statista, Austin Knight)

App Usage Statistics

10. In 2019, people in the US spent 90% of their total time on smartphones, surfing on apps.

For reference, smartphones account for 70% of the total mobile use, app usage data indicates. In 2019, the average American spent two hours and 55 minutes on a smartphone, which accounted for 21% of their total media time.

(eMarketer)

11. The average person has approximately 80 apps on their phone.

Today mobile apps dominate our internet presence. According to mobile app usage statistics, meanwhile, only nine out of those 80 are active and used daily. Similarly, around 30 are in use every month.

(App Annie)

12. In 2019, people opened about 25% of downloaded apps only once.

This was an increase compared to 2018, when that number was 21%. Despite the solid figure behind the average app downloads per month, apps with low retention levels have to invest additional efforts to increase their average open rates. If an app uses messages to alert customers about a specific activity or offer, fewer people use it only once. For instance, only 17% use the app once when the in-app messaging is active. In fact,  this practice can improve user retention by up to 46%.

(Statista, Tech Crunch)

13. All industries experience 71% of app users churn within 90 days.

And no industry is immune to churn rates. For the travel and lifestyle industry, retention rates are the highest for three months when it comes to mobile app users, statistics confirm. Namely, 29% of users keep using them for 90 days and more. The second industry with high retention rates is media and entertainment with 28%. Finally, ecommerce and retail users, much like business and tech apps users, have a retention rate of 23% each.

(Upland)

14. In 2020, 17% of Americans couldn’t live without Facebook.

Typically, all smartphone users have an app that they prefer and can’t imagine living without. For the majority of the people in the US, in 2020, it was Facebook. Instagram was the runner-up with 13%. Other most-used mobile applications in the past year were Gmail and YouTube. These two had 9% and 8% of users saying that they couldn’t live without them. People couldn’t also live without Twitter (7%), Google Chrome, and Google Maps (6% each), statistics about mobile apps show.

(Statista)

15. Young people between 18 and 24 use apps the most.

That would be about 112.6 hours per month. The 25-34 age group is next, with 102.4 hours monthly. Those between the ages of 35 and 44 spend 93 hours per month. Next, people between 45 and 54 spend 75.6 hours in apps monthly, which is similar to those between 55 and 64 years (69.3 hours). Even people over 65 spend approximately 51 hours per month using their favorite apps.

(BuildFire)

App Stores and Mobile App Statistics

16. Developers have published 1.77 million apps in the Apple App Store.

The data from 2021 also shows that an average of 934 new apps hit the store daily, while weekly additions are just over 6,000. May 2021 saw 37,605 new apps. Many of these apps come from the best iOS app development firms. IOS app statistics further suggest that in 2020, there were around 1.45 million app publishers on this platform.

(42matters)

17. In 2020, there were around 3 million apps in the Google Play Store.

For reference, this platform reached its first million in 2013. Originally, this store carried the name Android Market when it was launched in 2008. Today it collects work from some of the best Android app developers in the world. On top of that, it provides customers with a diverse palette of music, magazines, books, games, TV, and film apps. Around 80% of its revenue comes from gaming apps, like Coin Master. The company uses different models to increase revenue because the majority of the apps here are free.

(Statista)

Staggering App Industry Statistics

18. In 2020, Android and iOS apps revenue reached $111 billion worldwide.

2020 was a record-breaking year for app revenue, which further marked a 30% revenue increase year-over-year. If we look at how much revenue big providers accumulated, we come to the figure of $72.3 billion for the Apple App Store. On the other hand, Google Play Store earned $38.6 billion. They both registered an annual growth of around 30%, according to app revenue statistics.

(Sensor Tower)

19. In 2021, Coin Master generated the most revenue worldwide.

With a little over $61 million in revenue the game generated in April of 2021, Coin Master is one of the top-grossing apps by revenue on the Google Play Store. Similarly, all other apps with the highest revenue share on this platform were gaming apps, which accounted for 85% of the entire gross app revenue of the Google Play Store in 2019. For comparison, social media apps generated 2% of the total revenue. Some of the leaders in the gaming market were Supercell, Niantic Inc., King, and Bandai Namco Entertainment. You probably know one of the King’s most popular games—Candy Crush Saga.

(Statista)

20. In-app purchases in 2019 were 17% higher than in 2018.

If we look at the in-app purchase statistics, the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store accumulated about $83.5 billion globally. For comparison purposes, this figure hovered around $71.3 billion in 2018. 2019 data shows that customers set a new record in spending $54.2 billion in the App Store. Although Google Play Store didn’t accrue as much as Apple’s Store, it registered an 18% growth year-over-year.

(Sensor Tower)

21. About 77% of brands have expressed interest in in-app advertising.

App sales statistics show that in-app purchases are an important revenue stream. One recent survey’s results demonstrated that in-app ads could have a huge impact on ROI (a 41% increase). This should not come as a surprise given that 84.2% of American adults access the internet over their mobile phones.

(Fyber)

22. Global spending on top 100 subscription-based apps was $13 billion in 2019.

Moreover, this includes only non-game apps. Namely, this represents a 34% increase from $9.7 billion a year before. Mobile app sales statistics indicate that the number one subscription app for both major stores was YouTube. This video-sharing giant accumulated $991.7 million of gross revenue. Out of this figure, $562 million was in the US alone.

(Sensor Tower)

23. The mobile apps market size will grow at a CAGR of nearly 21% between 2021 and 2025.

Translated into incremental growth, we’re talking about $653.91 billion for the mentioned period, and one of the fastest growth rates ever recorded. One of the biggest drivers of this significant mobile app industry growth lies in the APAC region. Countries in this zone will contribute to 46% of the total growth for the projected period. Thanks to this and many other factors, including the fast proliferation of app development companies, in 2021 alone, the global growth rate will be around 20.45%, according to mobile apps market statistics.

(PRNewswire)

24. Games are the primary revenue for both iOS and Android.

Compared to other apps, games provide multiple opportunities for an add-on revenue stream. For instance, ad-less experience, pro-versions, gifts, ads, and many more. So, it’s no wonder that the annual iOS revenue for this type of apps was around $47.6 billion in 2020, while Google Play had $31.9 billion during the same period.

(Sensor Tower)

App Statistics by Country

25. There are around 11,000 app publishers on Google Play from the UK.

This number represents only 1% out of the total of 934,182 publishers on this platform. Some of the biggest ones are ZeptoLab, First Touch Games Ltd., Gismart, ZeptoLab, Aceviral, Game Pickle, Cartoon Network EMEA, and many more. Communication apps are the most commonly used, after internet browsers, app usage statistics for the UK show.

(42matters, Statista)

26. The average Indian smartphone user has approximately 50 apps on their phone.

That includes both pre-installed and downloaded apps. A report covering data from two million users showed a massive (94%) rise in demand for news apps, closely followed by the demand for social media apps (80%) and games (52%). App usage statistics for India indicated that social app users in this country were likely to use dating apps. Social media app users were further found to frequently check weather information as they looked to enjoy outdoor activities.

(Firstpost)

27. In 2019, India had the largest number of app downloads globally, with 5.4 billion first-time downloads.

Next on the list of the top 10 countries with the largest number of downloads is the United States. Despite taking the second spot, the US had nearly half the figure India achieved, or around 3 billion. App download statistics by country continue with Brazil (2 billion), Indonesia (1.8 billion), and Russia (1.5 billion). If we look at the two largest platforms for downloads, China had the biggest number of downloads in the App Store of around 2 billion. On the other hand, India dominated Google Play by the number of downloads (5.26 billion).

(Sensor Tower)

App Statistics by Segment

28. Three out of 10 adults in the US confirm they have used a dating app.

The data, however, varies based on factors like sexual orientation or age.These platforms are most popular with 18-29 year-olds (48%). Alternatively, 38% of those who are between 30 and 49 years old used it, and only 16% of 50-year-olds and over. The dating app demographics overview further suggests that LGBT+ people are twice as likely to confirm they have used a dating app. Namely, dating app statistics show that 55% of this group used it compared to 28% of straight people.

(Pew Research)

29. Tinder and Badoo are the apps with the highest number of monthly active users.

Despite these numbers, Badoo seems to have been losing active users over the last couple of years, while Tinder still reports growth. Meanwhile, the customer base is shifting its interest to long-term relationships, prompting the rise of Bumble and Hinge as the best dating apps for people with such interests. According to the US dating apps statistics, Tinder and Bumble have the biggest valuations of $10 billion and $4 billion, respectively.

(Business of Apps)

30. The fitness app market size had a value of $4.4 billion in 2020.

The trends in the health and fitness app market size growth suggest that the annual CAGR from 2021 to 2028 will be around 21.6%. The transition from the actual gyms and fitness centers to the online arena, fueled by COVID-19, has boosted the downloads of such apps. One of the best health and fitness apps in 2021 is Map My Run. It’s free for use and boasts excellent iPhone (4.8), and Android (4.6) ratings, health and fitness apps statistics show.

(Grand View Research, Healthline)

31. In the US, 29% of those in the 18-29 age group use a fitness app regularly.

Alternatively, only 12% of those over 61 years use it. If we look at the demographics of fitness app users in the US, we can notice that those aged 61 and over are also most persistent against using these. The fitness app demographics based on gender also point to the gap between males and females in overall usage. For example, around 62% of females use these, while only 38% of users are men.

(Statista, Business Insider)

32. Mobile banking’s worth will rise to around $1.82 billion in just a couple of years.

With the rise of customers too busy to wait in lines and spend their work breaks in bank queues, mobile banking apps gained popularity. According to mobile banking apps statistics, over 57 million US adults are shifting toward mobile banking. Some of the biggest banks, like Bank of America and Wells Fargo, are swaying many customers in this direction. Based on the mobile banking usage by country, Malaysia, Italy, and Australia have the highest growth rates.

(GlobeNewswire, Statista, GlobalData)

33. About 97% of millennials use mobile banking.

Business Insider’s survey results show that 89% of respondents, regardless of their age, already use mobile banking. The mobile banking usage statistics show that this trend isn’t popular among younger generations only. Looking at the mobile banking users worldwide, data confirms that 91% of Gen Xers, as well as 79% of baby boomers, benefit from these services.

(Business Insider)

34. The on-demand economy attracts 22.4 million consumers annually.

As Harvard Business Review reports, users are generating $57.6 billion on these services. On-demand services vary from food delivery to healthcare and taxi services. Typically, millennials comprise the largest user base of on-demand apps, statistics confirm, with 49% of this generation using on-demand services. Another group counting a high number of users are those between 35 and 54. Typical representatives of these mobile apps are Uber and Airbnb.

(Harvard Business Review)

35. Uber has grown to be a $40 billion business in a matter of years.

Transportation is one of the first industries to go through disruption due to on-demand app growth. When Uber presented its business model as tech-oriented, not a logistics-based platform, users were instantly ‘hooked’ on this type of transportation. Many regular taxis and cabs have transformed their business models and developed their own apps to adapt to the on-demand economy, statistics show. Similar to renting cars and cabs in this manner, tech apps have enabled users to carpool.

(VenturePack)

36. Mobile commerce sales will reach $3.56 trillion in 2021.

For comparison purposes, it is a 22.3% increase compared to the registered sales from 2020. Despite the partial slowdown of mobile commerce, the annual increase of 29.8% between 2016 and 2021 stands for tremendous. Retail mobile app statistics from 2016, when the revenue was 3.5 times lower, further support this claim. Ultimately, the mobile commerce share of 72.9% in total ecommerce sales also speaks volumes about the importance of this sector.

(Statista)

37. Amazon is the most popular shopping app in the US, with 150.6 million mobile app users.

The fact that US mobile retail revenue reached $339.03 billion in 2020 shows just how popular mobile shopping is among Americans. It’s no wonder then that 63 million users accessed Amazon Sites via mobile devices, mobile shopping statistics confirm. Second on the list was Walmart, with a user base of 86.05 million people. Next, we have eBay, with 62.15 million people accessing it via mobile devices.

(Statista)

Our Final Thoughts

It’s more than clear how important mobile and app products have become, and this trend is set to continue in the new decade. The continuous mobile app growth, underscored by the app stats above, shows that companies need to exploit the benefits of this channel if they haven’t already done so.

FAQs

Source

• Statista
• Statista
• Space-O Technologies
• Business of Apps
• Apptopia
• VentureBeat
• Statista
• Statista
• Statista
• Statista
• Sensor Tower
• App Annie
• Statista
• Austin Knight
• eMarketer
• App Annie
• Statista
• TechCrunch
• Upland
• Statista
• BuildFire
• 42matters
• Statista
• Sensor Tower
• Statista
• Sensor Tower
• Fyber
• Sensor Tower
• PRNewswire
• 42matters
• Statista
• Firstpost
• Sensor Tower
• Pew Research
• Grand View Research
• Healthline
• Statista
• Business Insider
• GlobeNewswire
• Statista
• GlobalData
• Business Insider
• Harvard Business Review
• Harvard Business Review
• Statista
• Statista
• Business Insider
• Gartner
• PR Newswire
• WorldAtlas
• Federal Reserve

By Ivan Blagojevic