App Spending On iOS, Google Play To Reach $156B By 2023

A new report has projected that global user spending in mobile apps on Apple’s App Store and Google Play will reach $156 billion by 2023.

According to data from Sensor Tower Store Intelligence, this new figure is a 120 percent growth from last year, as well as a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.8 percent over the next five years.

In addition, App Store revenue is expected to increase to $96 billion, while Google Play will grow to $60 billion. The data was taken from App Store and Google Play download and revenue estimates for January 1, 2015 through December 31, 2018.

And while Japan had 43 percent year-over-year growth last year to become the top earning country on Google Play in 2018, the United States is projected to pass Japan this year.

Brazil, the second largest market by downloads, is expected to enter the top 10 by revenue by 2023, with revenue of nearly $1.5 billion. The top five countries in the 2023 forecast are the same as in 2018: China, the U.S., Japan, Great Britain, and Russia. However, Russia will pass Great Britain to take the No. 4 spot.

Despite staying in the top five, revenue growth in China slowed at the end of 2018 due to a drop in downloads caused by a game licensing freeze. “We anticipate low revenue growth in 2019 until the market bounces back, allowing the U.S. to narrow the gap between it and China as the top country,” said the report.

South Korean revenue also dropped in 2018, and it is predicted to be the seventh-largest market in 2019, down from No. 5 in 2018 and No. 4 in 2017

And while revenue growth from games has slowed down in recent years, the popularity of subscriptions allowed apps to reach 57 percent year-over-year revenue growth last year.  In fact, by 2023, games will only account for 60 percent of the revenue on the App Store. App revenue is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 24 percent, compared to 12 percent for games revenue.