Global App Spending: First Half of 2022

Global consumer spending on mobile applications reached $65 billion during the first half of 2022, representing a modest year-over-year increase of approximately 1 percent. This growth rate marks a significant deceleration compared to the 24.8 percent expansion observed during the same period in 2021. The slowdown is attributed to a combination of market normalization following the pandemic-era surge and broader global economic headwinds. While revenue experienced slight growth, total app installations declined by 1.5 percent, falling to 71.2 billion downloads across the Apple App Store and Google Play.

The performance varied by platform, with Apple’s App Store generating $43.7 billion in revenue—a 5.6 percent increase—while Google Play saw a 7.4 percent decline to $21.3 billion. In the non-game sector, TikTok maintained its position as the highest-grossing app, generating $1.7 billion in the first half of the year. Other top-performing non-game applications included YouTube, Google One, Tinder, and Disney+.

The mobile gaming segment faced more pronounced challenges, with global player spending falling 6.6 percent to $41.2 billion. Google Play experienced a sharper decline in gaming revenue at 14.8 percent, compared to a 0.8 percent dip on the App Store. Despite the revenue contraction, global game downloads saw a marginal increase of 0.4 percent, reaching 28.1 billion installs. Honor of Kings and PUBG Mobile remained the top-grossing titles, while Subway Surfers emerged as the most downloaded game of the period. These findings rely on preliminary store intelligence estimates, excluding revenue from local taxes, in-app advertising, and mobile commerce transactions.