Global Consumer Spending in Mobile Apps Reached $133 Billion in 2021, Up Nearly 20% from 2020

Summary

Consumer spending on mobile apps across the App Store and Google Play reached approximately $133 billion in 2021, representing 19.7% year-over-year growth from $111.1 billion in 2020, mirroring the pre-pandemic growth rate. The App Store accounted for $85.1 billion, up 17.7%, while Google Play grew 23.5% to $47.9 billion. Non-game app TikTok maintained dominance with $2.3 billion in consumer spending, while Google One topped Google Play revenue.

First-time installs remained relatively flat at 143.6 billion, with TikTok being the most downloaded app on the App Store and Facebook leading on Google Play. Mobile game spending grew 12.6% to $89.6 billion, representing 67.4% of total app spending, down from 71.7% in 2020 as non-game categories like Entertainment gained share. Games accounted for 61.5% of iOS revenue and 78% of Google Play revenue, with Honor of Kings and Coin Master as the top grossers on each platform.

Game installs declined slightly by 1.6% to 55.3 billion, with Garena Free Fire leading on Google Play and PUBG Mobile on the App Store. Overall, the mobile market normalized after the 2020 surge, with sustained growth in non-game categories.