The app economy sent a clear message in 2025: growth no longer depends on downloads.
According to Appfigures’ latest annual report which was picked up by TechCrunch, global app downloads declined for the fifth year in a row, yet consumer spending surged to a new all-time high. The reason is simple. Subscriptions are now doing the heavy lifting.
Fewer Downloads, More Money
Global consumer spending on mobile apps reached $155.8 billion in 2025, up 21.6% year over year. At the same time, downloads fell 2.7% to 106.9 billion, down from nearly 110 billion in 2024.
This marks a major shift from the pandemic era, when downloads peaked at 135 billion in 2020. Since then, user growth has slowed, but monetization has accelerated.
Subscriptions, recurring payments, and premium features have become the backbone of the app economy.
Games Stumble, Non-Game Apps Surge
The download decline was not evenly distributed.
Mobile games took the hardest hit:
- Downloads fell 8.6% to 39.4 billion
- This followed a 6.6% drop the year before
Non-game apps told a different story:
- Downloads rose 1.1% to 67.4 billion
- This reversed a similar decline in 2024
Revenue trends were even more telling.
Non-game apps generated $82.6 billion, up 33.9%, officially overtaking games as the largest revenue category. Mobile games still grew, but at a much slower 10%, reaching $72.2 billion. Games now account for just 46% of total app spending.
The U.S. Mirrors the Global Shift
In the United States, the same pattern played out.
- App spending rose 18.1% to $55.5 billion
- Downloads dropped 4.2% to 10 billion
Non-game apps once again led the charge, with spending up 26.8%, compared to 6.8% growth for games.
The Bigger Picture
The app economy is clearly maturing. User acquisition is no longer the primary growth lever. Instead, companies are focusing on retaining smaller audiences and monetizing them more effectively through subscriptions.
For developers, this means fewer chances to win purely on scale. For users, it explains why free apps increasingly feel incomplete without a paid tier.
In 2025, the app economy did not grow wider. It grew deeper.
