Mobile App Statistics 2026: 25+ Sourced Facts & Trends

The mobile app economy has entered a new phase: downloads have nearly plateaued, but the apps people already have installed are absorbing more of their time and money than ever. In 2025, global consumers spent $167 billion inside apps and racked up 5.3 trillion hours of usage — even as download growth slowed to under 1% year-over-year.

Below is a sourced collection of the mobile app statistics that matter most in 2026: download and revenue totals from Sensor Tower's State of Mobile report, App Store vs Google Play splits and retention benchmarks from Business of Apps, and category-level shifts driven by generative AI apps. Every figure links back to the report it came from.

Global App Downloads & Market Size

• Global app and game downloads reached 142.2 billion in 2025, of which app-only (non-game) downloads accounted for 96.9 billion. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Download growth has nearly flatlined, rising just 0.8% year-over-year in 2025 even as time spent and revenue grew much faster. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Apps with "AI" in their store description are on pace for 10 billion global downloads in the first half of 2026 alone. — Sensor Tower
• Google Play downloads are projected to reach 143 billion in 2026, up from 111 billion in 2021. — Business of Apps – Google Play Store Statistics
• Almost three times as many apps are downloaded from Google Play as from the Apple App Store. — Business of Apps – App Data Report

Consumer Spend & Revenue

• Worldwide consumer spending inside apps reached $167 billion in 2025, a 10% increase year-over-year. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• For the first time, in-app purchase revenue from non-gaming apps ($85.6 billion) surpassed spending on mobile games ($81.8 billion) in 2025. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Non-gaming app revenue grew 21% year-over-year in 2025 — nearly three times what it was just five years earlier. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Mobile game in-app purchase revenue approached $82 billion in 2025, its third consecutive year of growth despite a 7% drop in game downloads. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Apple's App Store generated $117.6 billion in consumer spending in 2025, versus $49.2 billion for Google Play. — Business of Apps – App Data Report

App Store vs. Google Play

• Apple captured roughly 70.5% of combined App Store and Google Play consumer spending in 2025, versus about 29.5% for Google Play. — Business of Apps – App Data Report
• The Apple App Store averaged over 850 million weekly active users globally in 2026 and is available in 175 countries and regions. — Business of Apps – App Data Report
• Google Play hosted about 2.53 million apps as of August 2026, split between roughly 2.24 million apps and 296,000 games. — AppBrain – Number of Android Apps
• The Apple App Store listed about 2.54 million apps as of August 2026, including roughly 2.3 million apps and 244,000 games. — 42matters – Google Play vs iOS App Store Stats
• Free apps dominate Google Play by a wide margin: about 2.46 million free apps versus roughly 73,700 paid apps. — AppBrain – Number of Android Apps

Time Spent & Usage

• Global users spent 5.3 trillion hours inside mobile apps in 2025. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• The average mobile user now spends 3.6 hours per day inside apps. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Time spent in apps grew 3.8% year-over-year in 2025 — more than 4x the 0.8% growth rate of downloads — showing existing users doing more inside the apps they already have. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Time spent inside generative-AI apps surged 426% year-over-year in 2025. — Sensor Tower – State of AI 2026

Retention & Churn

• The average iOS app retains just 25.4% of users by Day 1, dropping to 5.3% by Day 30. — Business of Apps – App Retention Rates
• The average Android app retains 20.2% of users by Day 1, falling to 3.8% by Day 30. — Business of Apps – App Retention Rates
• 46.1% of installed apps are uninstalled within their first month. — Business of Apps – App Churn Rates

Categories, AI Apps & Market Leaders

• TikTok topped worldwide app downloads, in-app purchase revenue, and total time spent across all apps in 2025. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• ChatGPT's in-app purchase revenue jumped 254% year-over-year in 2025, alongside a 426% surge in time spent. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• AI apps and short-form drama apps posted download growth of 148% and 278% year-over-year respectively in 2025. — Sensor Tower – State of Mobile 2026
• Apple's App Store ecosystem facilitated over $1.4 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2025. — Business of Apps – App Data Report

Frequently asked questions

How many apps are downloaded worldwide each year?

Global app and game downloads reached 142.2 billion in 2025, according to Sensor Tower's State of Mobile 2026 report — but that figure grew just 0.8% year-over-year, showing that download growth has largely plateaued while usage and spend keep climbing.

How much do consumers spend inside mobile apps?

Worldwide in-app consumer spending reached $167 billion in 2025, up 10% year-over-year, per Sensor Tower. For the first time, non-gaming apps ($85.6B) outspent mobile games ($81.8B), driven largely by generative AI, social, and streaming apps.

What's a good app retention rate?

Business of Apps benchmarks put average Day 1 retention at 25.4% for iOS and 20.2% for Android, falling to 5.3% and 3.8% respectively by Day 30. Nearly half (46.1%) of installed apps are uninstalled within the first month, so retaining even a quarter of users past Day 1 is close to the norm.

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Every figure above is attributed to its cited third-party source and reflects the most recent data we could find at the time of writing; statistics change, so follow the source links to verify. Compiled by the Tolodora Editorial Team — we don't fabricate data.