The mobile app industry is booming and shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, according to a recent study by Flurry Analytics, mobile app usage has increased by over 800% in the past four years!
With such a high demand for mobile apps, it’s important to understand how people are using them. While it’s hard to imagine a world without a smartphone, it’s only been ten years since the iPhone App Store and Google Play store first launched.

18 Surprising Mobile App Stats
Let’s go through 18 surprising mobile app stats that will help you better understand your customers and their needs.
1. Mobile App Usage
According to a study conducted by Comscore, the average person spends two hours and 42 minutes on their smartphone every day. Of that time, 86% is spent using apps. That means that people are spending an average of around two hours per day using mobile apps!
2. Most Popular Categories
The most popular app category is games, followed by social networking, music, and entertainment. However, the fastest growing app category is actually utility and productivity apps. This includes apps such as weather apps, calculator apps, and note-taking apps.
Of total smartphone time spent using apps, 43 percent of the time is spent on social and communication apps, 25.4 percent on photo and video apps, 7.7 percent on gaming apps, 3.1 percent on entertainment apps, and 20.8 percent on other categories.
3. Top Google Play Categories
99,9% – Communication
99,8% – Tools
99,3% – Business
96,6% – Video Players & Edit
95.7% – Travel & Local
4. Money Spent on Apps
In 2018, consumers spent a total of $101 billion on mobile apps. This is a 30% increase from 2017. The majority of this spending comes from in-app purchases, which account for 86% of total app revenue.
5. Largest Market for Mobile App Spending
The United States is the largest market for mobile app spending, followed by China and Japan.
6. App Downloading
The average person downloads zero to one new app per month. However, this number varies greatly depending on age. People aged 18-24 are the most likely to download new apps, with an average of three per month. Mobile app downloads are expected to increase by 45%.
7. Motivation for Deleting App
The most common reason people delete apps is that they never use them. Other reasons include not having enough storage space, finding better alternatives, and forgetting they even had the app.
8. App Revenue
The majority of mobile app revenue comes from in-app purchases, which account for 86% of total app revenue.
9. Average Cost Per App
The average cost per app is $0.99. However, this number varies greatly depending on the type of app.
10. Fastest-growing App Category
The fastest-growing app category is utility and productivity apps. This includes apps such as weather apps, calculator apps, and note-taking apps. Nearly 92.3 percent of smartphone users will be using voice assistants by 2023.
11. Average Downloads Per Person
The average person downloads zero to one new app per month. However, this number varies greatly depending on age. People aged 18-24 are the most likely to download new apps, with an average of three per month.
12. App Deletion
The most common reason people delete apps is that they never use them. Other reasons include not having enough storage space, finding better alternatives, and forgetting they even had the app.
In 2018, consumers spent a total of $101 billion on mobile apps. This is a 30% increase from 2017. blog post content. Do not write numbers or bullet points.
13. Most Popular Apps
98.3% of mobile users have Facebook installed on their devices. (Source: Statista) Facebook is the app we’re most likely to have installed on our phones. As of January 2021, almost everyone has accessed it on any kind of mobile phone, as shown by the latest mobile app usage statistics from Statista.
14. Free Available Apps
Free social media apps dominate the market, about 90% of apps are free on the App Store. About 1.96 million apps are available for download on the Apple app store, as recorded in the third quarter of 2020.
Conclusion
The mobile app industry is continuing to grow at a rapid pace. Between 2021 and 2025, the mobile app market size will grow by almost $654 billion. This is a huge opportunity for businesses to reach new customers and generate revenue. And it is not gonna slow down, things are moving to a more and more digital world.
Thanks for checking these statistics, I hope you got something out of it! 🙂