Indians spent $120mn, downloaded 19 bn mobile apps in 2019

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India is the second-largest market for app downloads worldwide, according to a recent report. In 2019, the country registered the strongest growth in three years among the top five app economies.

Over 19 billion apps were downloaded by Indian users in 2019, resulting in a 195 percent growth over 2016 data. The global average was nowhere close and stood at 45 percent. Further, the US recorded a 5 percent growth, whereas China saw an 80 percent growth in 2019, The Times of India reported citing data from AppAnnie.

Consumers worldwide downloaded over 204 billion apps in 2019, which generated a total revenue of $120 billion. China dominated in spending on mobile apps with nearly 40 percent of total revenue. Indians consumers, on the other hand, contributed only $120 million, which is 0.3 percent of the total consumer spending on mobile apps. 

Majority of the spending was done on subscription apps, which accounted for nearly 95 percent. Three out of four such subscription apps were non-gaming apps. PUBG Mobile registered maximum spending in India among gaming apps, whereas Carrom Pool topped in terms of downloads.

Google Pay (formerly known as Tez), MX Player, and TikTok were a few of the ‘breakout apps’ in India during 2019. AppAnnie defines breakout apps as the ones which registered maximum year-on-year growth in their respective metrics. Indians spent 3.5 hours per day on their mobiles in 2019, slightly below the global average of 3.7 hours.

After initiatives like Digital India, Indians accessed finance apps over 129 billion times, with session count doubling from 66 million in 2018. Food and drink apps too saw a whopping 182 percent growth from 2018, compared to the global growth of 106 percent.