Global consumer spending on premium apps, in-app purchases, and subscriptions across Apple's App Store and Google Play will reach $270 billion annually by 2025, nearly 2.5 times what consumers spent in 2020 as Covid-19 accelerated mobile trends.
According to data provided by app analytics firm Sensor Tower, Covid-19 supercharged global consumer spending in mobile apps during 2020, which climbed 30 per cent year-over-year to $111 billion.
While year over year growth in spending will return to pre-pandemic levels over the next five years, gross revenue on both app stores will continue to climb each year with a 19.5 per cent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach $270 billion in 2025.
The App Store will see a CAGR of 21 per cent through 2025, reaching $185 billion annually. Consumer spending on Google Play is projected to experience a 17 per cent CAGR, hitting $85 billion annually within the next five years. Consumer spending in the US will grow at a slightly slower pace than the global trend, climbing to $74 billion in 2025 at a CAGR of 17.7 per cent. The US App Store will experience a CAGR of 19.6 per cent and Google Play will climb 14 per cent to $51 billion and $23 billion, respectively.
First-time downloads achieved their highest growth since at least 2016 in 2020, surging 24 per cent y/y to 143 billion. Although the pace of installs will slow as markets begin recovering from the pandemic, both the App Store and Google Play will continue experiencing stable y/y growth.
By 2025, non-game apps will widen their lead even more, reaching $107 billion while mobile games will reach $78 billion.