In 2024, the global app economy witnessed a remarkable recovery following an earlier slowdown in 2022. This recovery was particularly evident in terms of consumer spending. Across the App Store and Google Play, global consumer spending in mobile apps and games reached a staggering $127 billion, marking a significant 15.7% increase from the previous year. However, this growth was primarily driven by Apple's App Store, as Google Play spending witnessed a decline. According to new data from app intelligence firm Appfigures, this trend became apparent.

Worrying Signs for the App Ecosystem

While consumer spending showed an upward trajectory, there were other concerning indicators regarding the overall health of the app ecosystem. In 2024, global app downloads experienced a decline of 2.3% compared to 2023, reaching nearly 110 billion. This downward trend was observed across both app stores, as indicated by the data. This isn't the first time we have witnessed signs that the app ecosystem's rapid growth might be reaching a plateau. As the app economy matures, the focus has shifted towards extracting revenue from the existing apps that consumers are using through ongoing subscriptions rather than encouraging them to download new or paid apps.It is noteworthy that only 5% of apps worldwide offered subscriptions last year, yet they accounted for a substantial 48% of the app revenue across both app stores. Additionally, the top 10 earning apps globally generated 13.7% of all consumer spending, showing a 1.2% increase from 12.5% in 2023.