Global App Store Market Overview (2023)
An overview on the global app market that covers consumer spending, market sizes and the latest trends.
If you are looking for the latest market overview, please consult the link below.
Global App Store market statistics from 2022 demonstrate that the landscape is extremely competitive with consumers downloading 255 billion apps and spending $167 billion. Mobile ad spend continues to prove to be a valuable source of income, generating $336 billion through the 4.1 trillion hours that customers spent in apps in 2022.
Sources: Data AI.
94.2% of apps currently available on the App Stores are free, a number that increased from 92.7% just a year earlier, suggesting that in order to compete you need to provide an app with a freemium model.
Direct downloads account for $58.3 billion; In-App Purchases for $91.6 billion and Subscriptions for $17.1 billion.
Sources: Data AI, Business of Apps Subscriptions, Business of Apps App Revenue.
Apple's App Store was responsible for 67% of the total consumer spending ($111.89 billion) and 77% of subscription revenue ($14.1 billion), compared to the Google play store ($55.11 billion and $3 billion).
Sources: Data AI, Business of Apps Subscriptions, Business of Apps App Revenue.
China ($55+ billion/year), United States ($40+ billion/year) and Japan ($15+ billion/year) are the worlds largest markets and make up over 65% of revenue.
Source: Data AI
The most popular consumer spending categories are Entertainment (OTT), Social Media (Dating) and Entertainment (Short Video); with the most popular apps being Disney+, Tinder and TikTok.
Please note that when prioritizing regions for launch or localization, you should carry out further research into the specific category, as in the case of Health & Fitness, more than half of consumer spending comes from the United States.
To understand the top performer or to get a holistic breakdown of a category, please consult Data AI's report using the link below.
Sources: Data AI
~5% of users invest in In-App Purchases with the average consumer spending:
- $1.08 in In-App Purchases per user on the Apple App Store; at an average of $12.07 per transaction.
- $0.43 in In-App Purchases per user on the Google Play Store; at an average of $8.80 per transaction.
Source: Business of Apps
Over 60% of all In-App Purchases cost between $0.49 to $9.99.
The remaining categories are $10-$49.99 (~29%), $50-$99.99 (~7%) and $100+ (~2%).
Source: Business of Apps
Apple have 785+ million active subscriptions across apps (Apple Talks: Optimize Subscriptions for Success: Acquisition), Google did not disclose.
The subscriptions market is dominated by Photography (25.6%), Health and Fitness (25.6%) and Music apps (23%), which collectively bring in 73% of all subscriptions (approximately $12.141 billion).
7.1% of consumers make a monthly payment on App Stores, with the average subscription prices for popular subscription periods being:
- $10/month.
- $29/3 months
- $49/6 months
- $61/year
Source: Business of Apps
As 60% of active subscriptions began with an introductory offer, we recommend reading our article on Popular Offer Mechanics to understand the options that are available to businesses to acquire, retain and regain consumers; market behaviors and the best practices around offers.
Looking for more information on building e-commerce Apple apps?
Read our business guide to get our latest market and customer research, perspective and recommendations on building Apple e-commerce apps that use In-App Purchases and Subscriptions.