App spending jumps to $155.8B in 2025 as subscriptions power revenue growth
“Appfigures data cited by Geo.tv shows 2025 app downloads dipped to about 106.9B, but consumer spending surged to roughly $155.8B as subscriptions and in-app purchases drove revenue.”
Key points
- Appfigures data cited by Geo.tv shows 2025 app downloads dipped to about 106.9B, but consumer spending surged to roughly $155.8B as subscriptions and in-app purchases drove revenue.
- Non-game apps grew faster than games, signalling a broader shift in how mobile earnings are generated.
Mobile app and game downloads slipped again in 2025, but overall spending rose sharply as subscriptions and in-app purchases continued to reshape how developers make money, according to figures cited in a Geo.tv report.
The article, referencing Appfigures data reported by TechCrunch, says downloads fell 2.7% year-on-year to about 106.9 billion. Despite that decline, consumer spending increased 21.6% to an estimated $155.8 billion, indicating that publishers earned more from existing users rather than relying on new installs.
Geo.tv also highlights a shift in the revenue mix: while mobile games remained a major category, non-game apps expanded faster. The report says users spent $72.2 billion on mobile games—about 46% of total in-app spending—while spending on non-game apps climbed to $82.6 billion in 2025.
The story adds that the growing subscription economy is also influencing the wider ecosystem, pointing to investment activity around subscription tooling and payments, including companies such as RevenueCat and Appcharge mentioned as recent fundraising examples.
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