Appfigures’ annual report on the app economy shows that app downloads declined in 2025 compared to 2024, even as estimated gross revenue surged to a record high. Here are the details.
Downloads were down, but subscriptions helped drive revenue up
According to Appfigures (via TechCrunch), global consumer spending on mobile apps reached $155.8 billion in 2025, up 21.6% from 2024. Meanwhile, downloads decreased by 2.7% to 106.9 billion, down from 109.8 billion in 2024 and 113.6 billion in 2023.
This marked the fifth straight year of declining downloads, a trend that peaked at 135 billion during the pandemic in 2020. Yet, the subscription model, now common across the app economy, helped offset the decline.
The download drop wasn’t uniform across categories. Mobile games took the bigger hit, falling 8.6% year-over-year to 39.4 billion downloads (following a 6.6% decline the year before). Non-game apps, however, edged up 1.1% to 67.4 billion, reversing an identical 1.1% decline in the prior year.
A similar split played out in revenue. Non-game app spending surged 33.9% to $82.6 billion, now outpacing mobile game spending, which grew a more modest 10% to $72.2 billion. Games now account for just 46% of total app spending.
In the U.S. specifically, consumer spending jumped 18.1% to $55.5 billion, while downloads fell 4.2% to 10 billion. Non-game apps led the charge with spending up 26.8% to $33.6 billion, compared to game spending, which rose 6.8% to $21.9 billion.
Appfigures has yet to release the report publicly, but you can dive deeper into the numbers on TechCrunch’s coverage.
Have you been downloading fewer apps? Let us know in the comments.
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