On January 15, technology website TechCrunch reported that although global mobile application downloads will decline for the fifth consecutive year in 2025, the subscription economy has promoted the growth of mobile application revenue, according to an annual report released by application intelligence company Appfigures on Wednesday.
Appfigures’ report shows that global downloads of mobile applications and mobile games on Apple’s App Store and Google Play are expected to reach 106.9 billion times in 2025, a year-on-year decrease of 2.7%. Meanwhile, consumer spending grew 21.6% and is expected to reach $155.8 billion.
App downloads continue to decline
This data shows that even though the number of new users downloading apps is declining, app developers, marketers and publishers are still successfully driving existing users to make in-app purchases or sign up for subscriptions.
App revenue continues to grow
The report also reflects the declining role of mobile gaming as a major revenue driver in the app economy. In 2025, consumers will spend $72.2 billion on mobile games, accounting for approximately 46% of total mobile application spending. While this number increased by 10% year over year, spending on non-gaming mobile apps also increased. Appfigures said that non-game application spending will increase by 33.9% year-on-year in 2025, reaching US$82.6 billion.