App downloads decline 2.3% in 2024, but consumer spending grows to $127B

The global app economy continued to recover in 2024, after an earlier slowdown in 2022 — at least in terms of consumer spending. In 2024, global consumer spending in mobile apps and games reached $127 billion across the App Store and Google Play, up 15.7% from the prior year. However, those increases were driven by Apple’s App Store as Google Play spending declined, according to new data from app intelligence firm Appfigures.

Though spending was up, there was another worrying sign about the overall health of the app ecosystem. This year, global app downloads were down by 2.3%, compared with 2023, reaching nearly 110 billion. This downward trend was seen across both app stores, the data indicates.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen signs that the app ecosystem’s massive growth may be finally starting to level out. As the app economy matures, the more recent focus has been on extracting revenue from the apps consumers are already using via ongoing subscriptions, rather than driving them to download new apps or paid apps.

Of note, only 5% of apps worldwide offered subscriptions last year, but they accounted for 48% of the app revenue across both app stores, Appfigures found. In addition, the top 10 earning apps globally generated 13.7% of all consumer spending, up 1.2% from 12.5% in 2023.

Meanwhile, much of the innovation taking place today is in the field of AI — a trend Apple largely snubbed when picking its overall App of the Year over the past couple of years, an award that when to video app Kino and hiking app AllTrails in 2024 and 2023, respectively.

Downloads decline globally

Declining app downloads, meanwhile, was a trend seen across both app marketplaces.

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 were down 2.6% to 81.4 billion. Last year, app downloads were largely flat, another report had found.

In part, the decline in downloads also has to do with how Apple and Google Play managed their app stores in 2024.

Google, in particular, cracked down on spam and other low-quality apps this past year, leading to a significant 60% reduction in the release of new apps on Google Play. This was likely driven by increased requirements for developers around app testing and app review.

The U.S. also helped push the larger global trend downloads, as U.S. iOS downloads declined 5.3% to 6.1 billion and U.S. Google Play app downloads dropped 0.7% to 4.4 billion. In total, U.S. app downloads declined by 3.4% in the year, reaching approximately 10.6 billion.

Instagram, not TikTok, was 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 more than X in 2024.

However, Temu was the most downloaded app in the U.S. with 48 million installs, Appfigures found. Apple recently confirmed it was the U.S.’s most-downloaded app on its App Store, too.

Mexico saw the biggest increase in app downloads in 2024, with 225 million more installs than in 2023.

App Store continues to make money

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

Of the $127 billion in total consumer spending globally in 2024, $91.6 billion came from the App Store, up 24% year-over-year. Google Play consumer spending declined by 1.5% year-over-year to reach $35.7 billion globally.

The U.S. accounted for a large portion of that overall pie, as $47.6 billion in consumer spending came from users in the U.S., up 11% year-over-year. (The Apple App Store accounted for $34.4 billion of that U.S. figure, up 18.4%, while Google Play’s U.S. revenue declined 4.7% to reach $13.2 billion in 2024.)

By consumer spending, the top app globally was TikTok, with an estimated $2.5 billion across iOS and Android, not counting app stores in China. TikTok was also the top app in the U.S., drawing in nearly $1.3 billion.

Brazil was the fastest-growing market for consumer spending, up 73% year-over-year.