Sensor Tower’s State of Mobile 2025 (covering 2024 data) reports that global in-app purchase revenue across iOS and Google Play reached $150 billion for the first time — up 13% year over year. Gaming recovered to $81 billion (+4%) after two straight years of decline, but the real engine was non-gaming, which grew 23%.
The number that should shape your strategy isn’t the headline: downloads were essentially flat at ~136 billion, so almost all of the revenue growth came from monetizing existing users better, not acquiring new ones.
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How big is the global mobile app market in 2024?
Consumer spending on apps and games hit $150 billion in 2024 (+13% YoY) — the first time the market has crossed that line, per Sensor Tower. Engagement kept climbing too, but more slowly than before:
| Metric (2024) | Value | YoY change |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer spend (IAP, iOS + Google Play) | $150B | +13% |
| — Gaming spend | $81B | +4% |
| — Non-gaming spend | — | +23% |
| Time spent in apps | 4.2T hours (~3.5 hrs/day/user) | +5.8% |
| Downloads | ~136B | Roughly flat |
| — Gaming downloads | 49.6B | −6% |
Is mobile gaming recovering in 2025?
Modestly. Gaming spend grew 4% to $81 billion — a genuine turnaround after two consecutive years of decline, but a fraction of non-gaming’s 23% growth. And it came despite gaming downloads falling 6% to 49.6 billion.
In other words, games are extracting more revenue from a shrinking install base, which is exactly what you’d expect as the category leans harder into live-ops, hybrid monetization, and retention of high-value players rather than chasing new installs.
Why is non-gaming the real growth engine?
Non-gaming consumer spend grew 23% year over year — roughly six times faster than gaming. Subscription-driven categories (productivity, health and fitness, AI tools, entertainment) are pulling an increasing share of consumer wallets.
For a subscription app, the implication is competitive: the categories you operate in are where the spending growth is concentrated, which means more advertiser demand, more auction pressure, and a higher bar on creative and monetization to win a share of that growth profitably.
What does flat downloads but rising spend mean for user acquisition?
It’s the most important signal in the report. When the market grows revenue 13% while downloads stay flat, growth is coming from monetization and retention, not acquisition. Practically, that reframes where the leverage is for most apps in 2026:
- LTV and retention beat raw install volume. In a flat-download market, the apps that win are the ones extracting more revenue per user — better onboarding, paywall, and re-engagement — not the ones buying the most installs.
- Remarketing earns its budget. A flat acquisition pool makes re-engaging existing users disproportionately valuable, which is consistent with the industry-wide shift of spend toward remarketing.
- Creative differentiation is the UA lever. When you can’t grow the install base cheaply, lowering CPI through stronger creative — not just bidding harder — is how acquisition stays profitable.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much did consumers spend on mobile apps in 2024?
Global in-app purchase revenue across iOS and Google Play reached $150 billion in 2024, up 13% year over year and a record high, per Sensor Tower’s State of Mobile 2025.
Did mobile gaming revenue grow in 2024?
Yes — gaming spend grew 4% to $81 billion, recovering after two consecutive years of decline, though gaming downloads fell 6% to 49.6 billion.
Is gaming or non-gaming growing faster?
Non-gaming. Non-gaming consumer spend grew 23% year over year versus 4% for gaming — roughly six times faster.
Are app downloads still growing?
No. Total downloads were roughly flat at about 136 billion in 2024, which means revenue growth is coming from better monetization of existing users rather than new installs.
Source: Sensor Tower — State of Mobile 2025. Granular category and market-level detail is in Sensor Tower’s full report.
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