TikTok Surpasses $10 Billion in Consumer Spending 

TikTok has generated $10 billion in consumer spending, becoming the first non-game mobile app to do so. 

The social video app has raised $3.8 billion this year, up from $3.3 billion in 2022, consumer and market data provider data.ai said in a Monday (Dec. 11) blog post. 

“TikTok is poised to become the highest earning mobile app ever — approaching the $15 billion milestone in 2024,” Lexi Sydow, head of insights at data.ai, said in the post. “Consumers are spending over $11 million per day tipping their favorite content creators, propelling TikTok past the world’s most lucrative mobile game to date: the addictive and beloved Candy Crush Saga.” 

The consumer spending generated by TikTok is made up of TikTok coins that users spend on virtual gifts for content creators on the platform, according to the post. The creators can then convert those coins into fiat currency. 

TikTok retains 50% of the payout amount, the post said. 

The $10 billion total does not include the app’s other revenue streams, which include in-app advertising and, as of September, eCommerce in the new TikTok Shop, per the post. 

TikTok is one of only five mobile apps that have topped the $10 billion gross revenue milestone, according to the post. The other four are mobile games: King/Activision Blizzard’s Candy Crush Saga ($12 billion), Tencent’s Honor of Kings ($11 billion), XFLAG/Mixi’s Monster Strike ($10.6 billion) and Supercell’s Clash of Clans ($10.2 billion). 

The next-closest applications nearing the $10 billion landmark are Tinder and YouTube, both of which trail TikTok by between $2 billion and $3 billion, the post said. 

TikTok is expected to reach $15 billion in consumer spend in 2024, per the post. 

“TikTokers are poised to spend a 40-hour work week each month in the app by the end of 2024, [up] 24% from 2023,” Sydow said in the post. 

PYMNTS Intelligence has found that Generation Z consumers often turn to social media like TikTok to browse for brands and products before using Google. 

Their interaction with the social network often leads to a purchase, according to “Tracking the Digital Payments Takeover: Monetizing Social Media,” a PYMNTS and AWS collaboration.