Revenue generated from in-app purchases climbed 34% to $13 billion in 2020 – Report

Last year we saw new heights reached in consumer spending in mobile apps both games and non-game apps. New research shows that around the world consumer spending in the top 100 non-game in-app purchases grew 34% year-over-year from $9.7 billion to $13 billion.

However, in the U.S the percentage of consumer spending on in-app purchases makes up about 17.6% of the $33 billion spent in 2020. The percentage has declined from the 21% revenue share that was accounted for in 2019.

Apple App Store

Revenue generated from in-app purchases increases from $9.7 billion to $13 billion

According to Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data, revenue generated from the top 100 non-game subscription apps made up about 11.7% of the $111 billion that consumers spend on in-app purchases last year, the same case in 2019. In the fourth quarter of 2020, out of the top 100 earning non-game apps, 86 apps offered subscriptions which came down from 89 apps in Q4 2019.

Consumers in the U.S spend approximately $5.9 billion in the top 100 non-game apps offering in-app purchases during 2020 which is up 26% year-over-year from $4.6 billion in 2019. SensorTower - in-app purchases consumers app stores

Looking at the U.S. App Store, consumers spent $4.5 billion in 2020 on the top 100 earning non-game apps offering subscriptions, up 25 percent from approximately $3.6 billion in 2019. While the top 100 earning subscription apps on Google Play did not generate as much revenue, they did see greater Y/Y growth. In 2020, the top Google Play subscription apps in the U.S. saw $1.4 billion spent, up 40 percent Y/Y from $1 billion.

Relatively consumers have spent more on the App Store than on Google’s marketplace as well as the subscription apps. Worldwide, the top 100 in-app purchase offering apps on the App Store generated $10.3 billion in 2020, up 32% from $7.8 billion in 2019. On the other hand, Google Play saw $2.7 billion in 2020, up 42% year-on-year from $1.9 billion in 2019. top grossing in-app purchases apps globally scaled

In terms of in-app purchases, Alphabet came out on top this year. In the U.S, across both the app stores YouTube came out on top generating $991.7 billion in gross revenue globally and $562 million in the U.S. On Google’s marketplace, Google One was the top-grossing app generating more than $445 million globally and $255.7 million in the U.S.

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About the Author

Usman has been playing games for as long as he can remember. He is an editor at iThinkDifferent and writes about games, Apple news, hardware, productivity guides, and more. When not writing for iTD, Usman loves to play competitive Team Fortress 2, spends time honing his football skills, and watches superhero movies.