- Internet›
- Mobile Internet & Apps›
Free mobile apps: number of downloads worldwide 2012-2017
Premium statistics
Industry-specific and extensively researched technical data (partially from exclusive partnerships).
A paid subscription is required for full access.
Free mobile apps: number of downloads worldwide 2012-2017
Number of free mobile app downloads worldwide from 2012 to 2017 (in billions)
by Statista Research Department,
last edited
Sep 19, 2013
This statistic provides information on the number of free mobile apps downloaded from app stores in 2012 and 2013, in billions. A forecast is also offered for the years 2014 to 2017. In 2012, approximately 57.33 billion free apps were downloaded on mobile devices. By 2017, download figures for free mobile apps are projected to reach 253.91 billion.
Free mobile apps – additional information
Free mobile apps initiate a variety of methods to generate revenue which include in app purchases and advertising. Gaming apps are a popular category in any app store and in 2014, game developers were asked; ‘Which advertising companies are most effective at maximizing revenue?’ During the survey, which took place in April of that year, 15 percent of respondents found Google to be the most effective advertising company. Google topped the list, but Chartboost, which was founded in 2011, came in at second place with 11 percent of game developers saying it was the most effective company for advertising.
Aside from advertising, free apps also come with optional upgrades with appealing additional features in order to generate revenue. In March 2014, mobile app users from the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and United Kingdom were assessed as to whether or not they had upgraded from a free app to a paid version. The results revealed that 34 percent of smartphone users from the five selected countries had upgraded from a free app to a paid app. This suggests that paid app upgrades may not have had enough appeal to make users part with their money.
In the Google Play Store, which is one the world’s leading app stores, the number of paid apps available has declined in the recent past. The distribution of free and paid Android apps was documented between 2009 and 2014. In 2009, 39.2 percent of all Android apps were free, but by 2014, this share had dropped to 31.2 percent of the market. The emerging trend suggests that free apps will continue to dominate the market in the future.
Number of free mobile app downloads worldwide from 2012 to 2017 (in billions)
| App downloads in billions | |
|---|---|
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
| App downloads in billions | |
|---|---|
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
| - | - |
Exclusive Premium statistic
You need a Premium Account for unlimited access.
Full access to 1m statistics
Incl. source references
Available to download in PNG, PDF, XLS format
Premium Account
only $49 / month
*
Exclusive content
Exclusive Premium statistic
You need a Premium Account for unlimited access.
Full access to 1m statistics
Incl. source references
Available to download in PNG, PDF, XLS format
Premium Account
only $49 / month
*
© Statista 2019
About this statistic
Show source
Download
Settings
Share
Chart type
Datalabels
Share on Social Media
Download started
Please be patient - this may take a moment
Please be patient - this may take a moment
Description
Source
More information
by Statista Research Department,
last edited
Sep 19, 2013
This statistic provides information on the number of free mobile apps downloaded from app stores in 2012 and 2013, in billions. A forecast is also offered for the years 2014 to 2017. In 2012, approximately 57.33 billion free apps were downloaded on mobile devices. By 2017, download figures for free mobile apps are projected to reach 253.91 billion.
Free mobile apps – additional information
Free mobile apps initiate a variety of methods to generate revenue which include in app purchases and advertising. Gaming apps are a popular category in any app store and in 2014, game developers were asked; ‘Which advertising companies are most effective at maximizing revenue?’ During the survey, which took place in April of that year, 15 percent of respondents found Google to be the most effective advertising company. Google topped the list, but Chartboost, which was founded in 2011, came in at second place with 11 percent of game developers saying it was the most effective company for advertising.
Aside from advertising, free apps also come with optional upgrades with appealing additional features in order to generate revenue. In March 2014, mobile app users from the U.S., China, Japan, South Korea and United Kingdom were assessed as to whether or not they had upgraded from a free app to a paid version. The results revealed that 34 percent of smartphone users from the five selected countries had upgraded from a free app to a paid app. This suggests that paid app upgrades may not have had enough appeal to make users part with their money.
In the Google Play Store, which is one the world’s leading app stores, the number of paid apps available has declined in the recent past. The distribution of free and paid Android apps was documented between 2009 and 2014. In 2009, 39.2 percent of all Android apps were free, but by 2014, this share had dropped to 31.2 percent of the market. The emerging trend suggests that free apps will continue to dominate the market in the future.
- Show sources information
- Show publisher information
- Release date
- September 2013
- Region
- Worldwide
- Survey time period
- 2012 and 2013
- Supplementary notes
- * Forecast
Source
- Show sources information
- Show publisher information
- Release date
- September 2013
More information
- Region
- Worldwide
- Survey time period
- 2012 and 2013
- Supplementary notes
- * Forecast
Other statistics on the topic
Statista Accounts:
Access All Statistics. Starting from $588 / Year
Basic Account
Get to know the platform
You only have access to basic statistics.
This statistic is not included in your account!
Premium Account
Your perfect start with Statista
- Instant access to 1m statistics
- Download in XLS, PDF & PNG format
- Detailed references
$49 / Month *
Corporate Account
Full access
Corporate solution including all features.
* All products require an annual contract.
Prices do not include sales tax.
Prices do not include sales tax.
Leading companies trust Statista:
I think of Statista as Google for researchers. Statista provides you with the information you search for right away.Dr. Horst Stipp
EVP, Research & Innovation, Advertising Research Foundation
Statistics on "Mobile app monetization"
- Overview
The most important statistics
- Number of mobile app downloads worldwide from 2016 to 2018 (in billions)Annual number of global mobile app downloads 2016-2018
- Number of mobile app downloads worldwide from 2014 to 2023, by region (in billions)Annual number of global mobile app downloads 2014-2023, by region
- Mobile app downloads worldwide from 2018 to 2023, by store (in billions)Annual global mobile app downloads 2018-2023, by store
- Worldwide consumer expenditure on mobile apps from 2016 to 2019 (in billion U.S. dollars)Global mobile app consumer spending 2016-2019
- Mobile app consumer spending worldwide from 2018 to 2023, by store (in billion U.S. dollars)Annual global mobile app consumer spending 2018-2023, by store
- Worldwide consumer spending on mobile apps in 2017, 2018 and 2022, by region (in billion U.S. dollars)Global gross consumer spend on mobile apps 2017-2022, by region
- User aquisition and retention
The most important statistics
- Average global mobile iOS app cost per loyal user (CPLU) and cost per installation (CPI) from March 2014 to March 2016 (in U.S. dollars)Average CPLU and CPI for iOS apps worldwide 2014-2016
- Average mobile app user acquisition costs worldwide from September 2017 to August 2018, by user action and operating system (in U.S. dollars)Average mobile app user acquisition costs 2017-2018, by user action and OS
- Average mobile app user acquisition costs from September 2017 to August 2018, by region (in U.S. dollars)Average mobile app user acquisition costs 2017-2018, by region
- Mobile app install advertising expenditures worldwide from 2017 to 2020 (in billion U.S. dollars)Global mobile app install advertising spending 2017-2020
- Distribution of worldwide Google Play app installs as of May 2017, by sourceGlobal Google Play app installs 2017, by source
- Distribution of worldwide Apple App Store app installs as of May 2017, by sourceGlobal Apple App Store app installs 2017, by source
- Retention rate on day 1 and day 30 of mobile app installs worldwide in 2018, by categoryMobile app user retention rate 2018, by category
- Mobile application user retention rate worldwide from 2012 to 2019Mobile apps: user retention rate 2012-2019
- App monetization
The most important statistics
- Distribution of worldwide mobile application revenues in 2017, by channelShare of worldwide mobile app revenues 2017, by channel
- Most-used mobile app monetization models according to mobile developers worldwide in 2017Most-used mobile app monetization models of developers 2017
- Strategies that mobile game developers worldwide plan to use to expand their audience base as of November 2017, by level of importanceMobile game developers strategies to expand their audience as of November 2017
- Most effective monetization methods for mobile apps according to mobile publishers worldwide as of March 2017Leading mobile app monetization methods worldwide 2017
- Most popular installed software development kits (SDKs) categories across global mobile apps in 2017Leading mobile app SDK categories worldwide 2017
- Most popular installed mobile monetization software development kits (SDKs) across global mobile apps in 2017Leading mobile app monetization SDKs worldwide 2017
- Most popular installed mobile analytics software development kits (SDKs) across global mobile apps in 2017Leading mobile app analytics SDKs worldwide 2017
- Most popular advertising software development kits (SDKs) used by Android gaming and non-gaming apps in 1st half 2017, by share of voiceTop advertising SDKs used by Android gaming and non-gaming apps 2017
- App stores
The most important statistics
- Revenue comparison of Apple, Google, Alphabet, and Microsoft from 2008 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)Apple, Google, and Microsoft: revenue comparison 2008-2018
- Revenue split of leading digital content stores worldwide as of December 2018Revenue split of leading digital content store worldwide in 2018
- Number of apps available in leading app stores as of 3rd quarter 2019Number of apps available in leading app stores 2019
- Number of available apps in the Apple App Store from 2008 to 2019 (in 1,000s)Number of active apps from the Apple App Store 2008-2019
- Cumulative number of apps downloaded from the Apple App Store from July 2008 to June 2017 (in billions)Apple App Store: number of downloads as of June 2017
- Most popular Apple App Store categories in May 2019, by share of available appsMost popular Apple App Store categories 2019
- Worldwide gross app revenue of Google Play from 2016 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)Google Play: annual gross app revenue 2016-2018
- Worldwide gross app revenue of the Apple App Store from 2017 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)Apple App Store: annual gross app revenue 2017-2018
- App publishers
The most important statistics
- Number of new million dollar app publishers in the United States in 2017 and 2018, by platformNumber of new million dollar app publishers in the U.S. in 2017-2018, by platform
- Category focus of app publishers with first million dollars or greater year in the Apple App Store in the United States in 2018U.S. iOS million dollar app publishers category focus 2018
- Category focus of app publishers with first million dollars or greater year on Google Play in the United States in 2018U.S. Android million dollar app publishers category focus 2018
- Leading mobile app publishers in the United States as of June 2019, based on audience size (in millions)Top mobile app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by audience
- Leading mobile app publishers in the United States as of June 2019, based on reachTop mobile app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by user reach
- Leading mobile app publishers in the United States as of June 2019, by share of total app time spentTime spent on leading mobile app publishers in the U.S. 2019
- Leading non-gaming app publishers in the Google Play Store in the United States in June 2019, by revenue (in million U.S. dollars)Leading non-gaming Android app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by revenue
- Leading non-gaming app publishers in the Google Play Store worldwide in June 2019, by revenue (in million U.S. dollars)Leading non-gaming Android app publishers worldwide 2019, by revenue
- Mobile gaming
The most important statistics
- Games market revenue worldwide in 2018, by segment (in billion U.S. dollars)Global games market revenue 2018, by segment
- Distribution of worldwide consumer spending on mobile apps and games from 2017 to 2022Global consumer spend mix on mobile apps and games 2017-2022
- Number of available gaming apps in the Apple App Store from 1st quarter 2015 to 3rd quarter 2019Apple App Store: number of available gaming apps as of Q3 2019
- Number of available gaming apps at Google Play from 1st quarter 2015 to 3rd quarter 2019Google Play: number of available gaming apps as of Q3 2019
- Number of available gaming apps in the Amazon Appstore from 1st quarter 2015 to 3rd quarter 2019Amazon Appstore: number of available gaming apps as of Q3 2019
- Top grossing iPhone mobile gaming apps in the United States as of September 2019, ranked by daily revenue (in U.S. dollars)Top grossing iOS mobile gaming apps 2019, ranked by daily revenue
- Leading iPhone gaming app titles worldwide in January 2019, by revenue (in million U.S. dollars)Leading iPhone gaming apps worldwide in 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPhone gaming app titles in the United States in January 2019, by revenue (in million U.S. dollars)Leading iPhone gaming apps in the U.S. in 2019, by revenue
Discover Statista
Need help with using Statista for your research?
Tutorials and first steps
Further Content: Statistics, Studies, and Topic Pages
Statistics
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by ethnicity
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by education
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by urbanity
- U.S. cell phone owners who have downloaded apps 2013, by gender
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by urbanity
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by education
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by household income
- Mobile apps: Christmas season download growth 2011-2013
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by age group
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by ethnicity
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by age group
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by gender
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by gender
- Christmas: most popular app download categories in the United States 2013
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by income
- Most downloaded Android apps in Spain in 2014
- U.S. mobile app retention rate H1 2016, by app usage
- App categories with the highest abandonment rates as of March 2014
- Leading downloaded iOS apps in Spain in 2014
- U.S. cell phone owners who have downloaded apps 2013, by education
Studies
- Mobile messenger apps
- Messaging apps in the Benelux region
- Mobile apps in the United Kingdom (UK)
- Mobile app usage
- Mobile commerce in the United States
- Photo apps in the United Kingdom (UK)
- Mobile app monetization
- App stores
- Mobile application usage in France
- Mobile games publishers
- Insights 2019 - Apps & social media usage in the US, UK, & Nordics
- Mobile social media usage in the United States
- Mobile social media usage worldwide
- Mobile payments in the United Kingdom (UK)
- 2019 Mobile Shopping Apps Report
Statistics on "Mobile app monetization"
- Annual number of global mobile app downloads 2016-2018
- Annual number of global mobile app downloads 2014-2023, by region
- Annual global mobile app downloads 2018-2023, by store
- Global mobile app consumer spending 2016-2019
- Annual global mobile app consumer spending 2018-2023, by store
- Global gross consumer spend on mobile apps 2017-2022, by region
- Average CPLU and CPI for iOS apps worldwide 2014-2016
- Average mobile app user acquisition costs 2017-2018, by user action and OS
- Average mobile app user acquisition costs 2017-2018, by region
- Global mobile app install advertising spending 2017-2020
- Global Google Play app installs 2017, by source
- Global Apple App Store app installs 2017, by source
- Mobile app user retention rate 2018, by category
- Mobile apps: user retention rate 2012-2019
- Global mobile app three month user retention and churn 2018
- Global mobile app three month user retention rates 2018, by vertical
- Mobile apps: abandonment rate 2012-2019
- Share of worldwide mobile app revenues 2017, by channel
- Most-used mobile app monetization models of developers 2017
- Mobile game developers strategies to expand their audience as of November 2017
- Leading mobile app monetization methods worldwide 2017
- Leading mobile app SDK categories worldwide 2017
- Leading mobile app monetization SDKs worldwide 2017
- Leading mobile app analytics SDKs worldwide 2017
- Top advertising SDKs used by Android gaming and non-gaming apps 2017
- In-app advertising monetization capacity share worldwide in 2017, by ad format
- iOS featured app and game download increase 2017
- U.S. App Store revenue per active iPhone 2016-2017, by category
- Global Apple App Store app revenue share 2017-2023, by category
- Global Google Play app revenue share 2017-2023, by category
- Mobile app ARPU in selected verticals worldwide Q1 2018, by user type
- Apple App Store holiday app spending 2018-2019
- Apple, Google, and Microsoft: revenue comparison 2008-2018
- Revenue split of leading digital content store worldwide in 2018
- Number of apps available in leading app stores 2019
- Number of active apps from the Apple App Store 2008-2019
- Apple App Store: number of downloads as of June 2017
- Most popular Apple App Store categories 2019
- Google Play: annual gross app revenue 2016-2018
- Apple App Store: annual gross app revenue 2017-2018
- Global Google Play and Apple App Store app revenues Q2 2019
- YoY Apple App Store and Google Play app revenue growth 2017-2019
- App spend distribution between Apple App Store and Google Play 2012-2018
- Apple App Store: average app price 2019
- Annual Apple App Store iOS developer payout 2015-2018
- Total Apple App Store iOS developer payout 2014-2019
- Distribution of free and paid Android apps 2019
- Number of new million dollar app publishers in the U.S. in 2017-2018, by platform
- U.S. iOS million dollar app publishers category focus 2018
- U.S. Android million dollar app publishers category focus 2018
- Top mobile app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by audience
- Top mobile app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by user reach
- Time spent on leading mobile app publishers in the U.S. 2019
- Leading non-gaming Android app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by revenue
- Leading non-gaming Android app publishers worldwide 2019, by revenue
- Leading gaming app publishers in Google Play worldwide 2019 by revenue
- Leading non-gaming iPhone app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by revenue
- Leading non-gaming iPhone app publishers worldwide 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPhone gaming app publishers worldwide 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPhone gaming app publishers in the U.S. in 2019, by revenue
- Leading non-gaming iPad app publishers worldwide 2019, by revenue
- Leading non-gaming iPad app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPad gaming app publishers worldwide in 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPad gaming app publishers in the U.S. 2019, by revenue
- Global games market revenue 2018, by segment
- Global consumer spend mix on mobile apps and games 2017-2022
- Apple App Store: number of available gaming apps as of Q3 2019
- Google Play: number of available gaming apps as of Q3 2019
- Amazon Appstore: number of available gaming apps as of Q3 2019
- Top grossing iOS mobile gaming apps 2019, ranked by daily revenue
- Leading iPhone gaming apps worldwide in 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPhone gaming apps in the U.S. in 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPad gaming apps worldwide in 2019, by revenue
- Leading iPad gaming apps in the U.S. in 2019, by revenue
- Leading gaming apps in Google Play worldwide 2019, by revenue
- Leading gaming apps in Google Play in the U.S. 2019, by revenue
- Casual mobile games interstitial ads eCPM worldwide in 2018, by region & OS
- Casual mobile games rewarded video ads eCPM worldwide in 2018, by region & OS
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by ethnicity
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by education
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by urbanity
- U.S. cell phone owners who have downloaded apps 2013, by gender
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by urbanity
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by education
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by household income
- Mobile apps: Christmas season download growth 2011-2013
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by age group
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by ethnicity
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by age group
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by gender
- Distribution of U.S. tablet app downloaders in 2011, by gender
- Christmas: most popular app download categories in the United States 2013
- Distribution of U.S. cell phone app downloaders in 2011, by income
- Most downloaded Android apps in Spain in 2014
- U.S. mobile app retention rate H1 2016, by app usage
- App categories with the highest abandonment rates as of March 2014
- Leading downloaded iOS apps in Spain in 2014
- U.S. cell phone owners who have downloaded apps 2013, by education
Statista Accounts:
Access All Statistics. Starting from $588 / Year
Related topics
About Statista
Statista offers dossiers and reports on over 170 industries. With Statista you are always able to make informed decisions and boost your work efficiency.
Internet & Telecommunications
- Social Media
- E-Commerce
- Online Video & Entertainment
- Advertising & Marketing
Consumer Goods & FMCG
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Cleaning Products
- Cosmetics & Personal Care
- Food & Nutrition
Retail & Trade
- Health & Hygiene
- International Trade
- Shopping Behavior
- Sports & Leisure
Travel, Tourism & Hospitality
- Business Travel
- Leisure Travel
- Accomodation
- Restaurants
Society
- Demographics
- Economy
- Education & Science
- Politics & Government
Transportation & Logistics
- Aviation
- Rail Transport
- Vehicles & Road Traffic
- Water Transport
Save statistic in .XLS format
You can only download this statistic as a Premium user.
Save statistic in .PNG format
You can only download this statistic as a Premium user.
Save statistic in .PDF format
You can only download this statistic as a Premium user.
Show source references
As a Premium user you get access to the detailed source references and background information about this statistic.
Show details about this statistic
As a Premium user you get access to background information and details about the release of this statistic.
Bookmark statistics
As soon as this statistic is updated, you will immediately be notified via e-mail.
Change statistics options
You need at least a Premium Account to use this feature.
Exclusive Corporate feature
This feature is limited to our corporate solutions.
Please contact us to get started with full access to dossiers, forecasts, studies and international data.
Corporate Account
We use cookies to personalize contents and ads, offer social media features, and analyze access to our website. In your browser settings you can configure or disable this, respectively, and can delete any already placed cookies. For details, please see your browser’s Help section (by pressing F1). Please see our privacy statement for details about how we use data.