Global consumer spending reached 65 billion USD from the App Store of Apple and Google Play combined in the first half of 2022, according to preliminary estimates from Sensor Tower Store Intelligence. This figure is approximately 1% higher than the same period last year, compared to the 64.4 billion USD generated by both stores in the same period of 2021.
Apple’s App Store generated approximately 43.7 billion USD from in-app purchases, subscriptions, as well as premium apps and games in the first half of this year, an increase of 5.6% compared to the 41.4 billion USD. In contrast, Google’s marketplace saw spending decline by 7.4% year-on-year, generating 21.3 billion USD compared to 23 billion USD.
This represents a reversal of roles compared to the first half of 2021, when Google Play recorded growth compared to the same period last year. Global consumer spending on the store increased by 30% in the first half of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, while the App Store grew by 22.1%.
TikTok maintains its position as the highest-grossing non-gaming app in the world across both the App Store and Google Play, including Douyin on iOS in China. In the first half of the year, consumers spent 1.7 billion USD on the app, an increase of 85% compared to 920.7 million USD in the same period last year. TikTok has now reached approximately 5.5 billion USD in total lifetime revenue.
YouTube holds its position as the second highest-grossing non-gaming app with estimated consumer spending of 693.6 million USD.
Worldwide downloads on Google Play reached approximately 55.3 billion, down 1.3% from 56 billion. TikTok, including Douyin on iOS in China, once again saw the most downloads globally with about 373.2 million. To date, the app has reached approximately 3.7 billion downloads worldwide. Familiar apps made it into the top 5, with only Instagram and Facebook swapping positions for second and third place respectively. Following them are WhatsApp and Snapchat in fourth and fifth place respectively.