App downloads declined again in 2025, but consumer spending soared to nearly $156B

New York: In 2025, app downloads fell for the fifth year in a row. This year, worldwide downloads of all mobile apps and games reached about 106.9 billion. That’s 2.7% lower than last year. Even though downloads are down, consumer spending grew. People spent around $155.8 billion on apps, which is 21.6% more than last year.

The report by Appfigures shows that app makers have found ways to encourage users to buy things in their apps or sign up for subscriptions. This is happening while fewer new users download apps.

The numbers also show that people are spending less on mobile games. In 2025, they spent $72.2 billion on games, making up about 46% of total app spending. Although this is up 10% from last year, spending on non-game apps grew a lot more. People spent $82.6 billion on non-game apps, which is a 33.9% increase.

Many people aren’t happy with apps that require in-app purchases or subscriptions. However, this helps app developers make more money. It also supports companies that help manage subscriptions. For example, RevenueCat raised $50 million and Appcharge got $58 million to help games earn more money. Recently, Liftoff Mobile, which helps apps market better, filed for an IPO.

As spending went up, downloads continued to drop in 2025. Downloads peaked at 135 billion during the pandemic in 2020 but have declined since then. The 106.9 billion downloads this year is down from 109.8 billion last year.

Mobile game downloads took a bigger hit this year, with 39.4 billion downloads, down 8.6%. Non-game app downloads only slightly increased by 1.1% to 67.4 billion.

Looking at the U.S. market, spending reached around $55.5 billion on mobile apps, which is up 18.1% from $47 billion in 2024. But downloads dropped to 10 billion, down 4.2% from last year. In the U.S., non-game apps had 7.1 billion downloads, while games had 2.9 billion.