How Many Apps Are On The App Store (Mar 2023)


Apple App Store Statistics
There are millions of paid and free apps made by app developers, with over one million available in Apple’s app store alone.
Apple App Store apps are classified into various categories, and it is interesting to see which ones are the most popular and earn the most money.
Read more to learn about the Apple App Store, from how many apps there are in the platform and mobile app usage of users to the number of downloads per year.
Editors Picks:
- No. of Apps on the Apple App Store: The Apple App Store had over 1.6 million apps in the third quarter of 2022, a decrease of around 260,000 apps from the previous year.
- Total no. of apps existing: The iOS and Android app stores each have over seven million apps available. As of 2022, approximately 1.6 million apps were available in Apple’s App Store and over 3 million Android apps on Google Play.
- Average no. of apps installed on a smartphone: An average person has 40 mobile applications installed, with approximately 18 apps being used 89% of the time.
- Revenue generated by mobile apps: For 2023, the App Store’s projected revenue by segment is US $490.80 billion. It represents a 13.9% increase in revenue.
- No. of apps a person uses daily: Around 49% of people open an app more than 11 times daily.
- No. of total app downloads: BeReal was the most downloaded app in September 2022, with 13.89 million downloads. TikTok comes in second place, trailing BeReal by only 6.38 million downloads.
How Many Apps Are There on the App Store?
There were over 1.6 million apps available in the App Store in 2022, and the platform has seen about 8.1 billion downloads in the same year. While Google Play, the app store for Android users, saw the majority of app downloads in 2022 (27.5 billion), the App Store is more effective in generating revenue.
Number of Apps in App Store Per Year (2009-2022)
Number of Apps in the App Store (2009-2022)
Quarter | No. of Apps |
---|---|
Q3 ’22 | 1,642,759 million |
Q3 ’21 | 1,903,654 million |
Q3 ’20 | 1,961,897 million |
Q3 ’19 | 1,798,024 million |
Q3 ’18 | 1,962,576 million |
Q3 ’17 | 2,052,722 million |
Q3 ’16 | 2,214,363 million |
Q3 ’15 | 1,672,271 million |
- Data Table
-
Number of Apps in the App Store (2009-2022)
Quarter No. of Apps Q3 ’22 1,642,759 million Q3 ’21 1,903,654 million Q3 ’20 1,961,897 million Q3 ’19 1,798,024 million Q3 ’18 1,962,576 million Q3 ’17 2,052,722 million Q3 ’16 2,214,363 million Q3 ’15 1,672,271 million - Data Graphic
-
The App Store had over 1.6 million apps in the third quarter of 2022. It is a drop of over 260,000 apps from the previous year. The App Store’s app count peaked in the third quarter of 2016, with over 2.2 million apps.
Key Stats
- The App Store had seen its lowest number of apps in the last eight years around the third quarter of 2022, when it only recorded around 1.64 million apps, and the second lowest was in the third quarter of 2015 when it recorded around 1.67 million apps.
- There was an increase of over 160,000 more apps from the third quarter of 2019 to the same quarter of 2020.
- The number of apps in the App Store decreased by more than 161 million between 2016 and 2017 and then by 90,000 in 2018.
Growth of Mobile Apps Available in App Store
There has been a 15% reduction in mobile apps available in the App Store in 2022.
App Store App Revenue Statistics
The App Store’s projected revenue by segment for 2023 is US $490.80 billion, representing a 13.9% revenue change. In-app purchases reached US $430.95 billion in 2022 and are expected to hit US $490.80 billion in 2023. There are approximately 8.93 million apps available worldwide, with 2.09 million available on the Apple App Store.
Quarterly App Store Mobile App Revenue
Key Stats
- The App Store’s mobile app revenue exceeded US $10 billion in the second quarter of 2018, surpassing that figure again in the second quarter of 2019 with nearly US $15 billion. (Source: Business of Apps)
- From the first to fourth quarters of 2021, the revenue for mobile apps in the App Store remained around US $20 billion. (Source: Business of Apps)
- The App Store’s mobile app revenue increased from approximately US $5 billion in the third quarter of 2016 to more than US $10 billion in the third quarter of 2017. (Source: Business of Apps)
Annual App Store Mobile App Revenue
Annual Revenue for App Store Mobile Apps
Year | Revenue (US $) |
---|---|
2021 | 85.1 billion |
2020 | 72.3 billion |
2019 | 58.4 billion |
2018 | 46.6 billion |
2017 | 38.5 billion |
2016 | 28.6 billion |
- Data Table
-
Annual Revenue for App Store Mobile Apps
Year Revenue (US $) 2021 85.1 billion 2020 72.3 billion 2019 58.4 billion 2018 46.6 billion 2017 38.5 billion 2016 28.6 billion - Data Graphic
-
Key Stats
- In the last six years, the annual revenue for mobile apps in the App Store peaked during 2021 when it earned US $85.1 billion.
- 2016 had the lowest yearly revenue in the last six years, at US $28.6 billion. However, the figures improved, with 2017 earning US $9.9 billion more than the previous year and 2018 making US $18 billion more.
- The annual revenue for mobile apps in the App store has continually increased from 2016 to 2021, with the base figure of over US $28 billion in 2016 gradually growing by 8-12% until 2021.
Most Popular App Categories in App Store 2023
Top 10 Most Popular App Categories by Share of Available Apps
App Categories | Market Share |
---|---|
Games | 12.68% |
Business | 10.35% |
Education | 9.79% |
Utilities | 9.22% |
Lifestyle | 7.93% |
Food & Drink | 6.58% |
Shopping | 5.26% |
Health & Fitness | 5.08% |
Productivity | 4.84% |
Finance | 4.16% |
Entertainment | 3.92% |
Travel | 3.26% |
Medical | 2.53% |
Sports | 2.37% |
Social Networking | 2.16% |
Music | 1.93% |
News | 1.66% |
Photography | 1.61% |
Reference | 1.41% |
Navigation | 1.06% |
Books | 0.97% |
Stickers | 0.70% |
Weather | 0.30% |
Newsstand | 0.13% |
Developer Tools | 0.10% |
No Category | 0.01% |
- Data Table
-
App Categories Market Share Games 12.68% Business 10.35% Education 9.79% Utilities 9.22% Lifestyle 7.93% Food & Drink 6.58% Shopping 5.26% Health & Fitness 5.08% Productivity 4.84% Finance 4.16% Entertainment 3.92% Travel 3.26% Medical 2.53% Sports 2.37% Social Networking 2.16% Music 1.93% News 1.66% Photography 1.61% Reference 1.41% Navigation 1.06% Books 0.97% Stickers 0.70% Weather 0.30% Newsstand 0.13% Developer Tools 0.10% No Category 0.01% - Data Graphic
-
The Apple App Store’s most popular app category is gaming apps, which make up 12.68% of all iOS apps. Gaming apps are followed by business apps, which are only 2% behind. Both with a market share of around 9%, utility, and education apps are in second and third place, respectively.
Newstand, Developer Tools, and apps that do not fit into any categories have the lowest market shares in the Apple App Store, each with a share of just 0.1%.
As of the third quarter of 2022, social networking apps had a share of 2.16%, 0.21% below sports apps, and 0.23% above music apps.
Key Stats:
- As of the third quarter of 2022, social networking apps had a share of 2.16%, 0.21% below sports apps but 0.23% above music apps.
- In the third quarter of 2022, apps in the news and photography categories had a market share of over 1.6%.
- Apps for shopping and health and fitness had respective market shares of 5.26% and 5.08% in the third quarter of 2022. On the other hand, finance and productivity apps each had a market share of more than 4%.
Most Downloaded Apps on App Store 2023
Which Apps Has the Most Downloads on the App Store?
App | No. of Downloads (in millions) |
---|---|
BeReal | 13.89 million |
TikTok | 7.51 million |
X-HERO | 7.18 million |
6.96 million | |
Survivor!.io | 4.64 million |
Telegram | 4 million |
3.99 million | |
Amazon Prime Video | 3.68 million |
Messenger | 3.57 million |
Subway Surfers | 3.49 million |
- Data Table
-
App No. of Downloads (in millions) BeReal 13.89 million TikTok 7.51 million X-HERO 7.18 million WhatsApp 6.96 million Survivor!.io 4.64 million Telegram 4 million Facebook 3.99 million Amazon Prime Video 3.68 million Messenger 3.57 million Subway Surfers 3.49 million - Data Graphic
-
The most downloaded app overall as of September 2022 was BeReal, with 13.89 million downloads. It is followed by Tiktok, only 6.38 million downloads behind BeReal.
X-HERO and WhatsApp are in third and fourth place, with over 7 million and over 6 million downloads, respectively. Around 4 million people have downloaded Survivor!.io and Telegram, followed by Facebook with 3.99 million downloads.
Key Stats:
- Subway Surfers, Messenger, Amazon Prime Video, and Facebook were among the most downloaded apps on the Apple App Store in 2022, with over three million downloads each.
- Bereal was the most downloaded app in the Apple App Store around 2022. It’s a photo app launched in 2019, and it allows users to post a dual camera picture with their friends.
- TikTok, one of the popular short-form video apps right now, was the second most downloaded app on the Apple App Store in 2022.
Top Social Media Apps in the App Store, by Number of App Downloads
Social Media Apps with the Most App Store Downloads
App | No. of Downloads |
---|---|
BeReal | 13.89 million |
WhatsApp Messenger | 6.96 million |
Telegram Messenger | 4 million |
3.99 million | |
Messenger | 3.57 million |
2.68 million | |
Xiao Hong Shu | 1.88 million |
Discord | 1.73 million |
1.40 million | |
Life360 | 1.31 million |
- Data Table
-
Social Media Apps with the Most App Store Downloads
App No. of Downloads BeReal 13.89 million WhatsApp Messenger 6.96 million Telegram Messenger 4 million Facebook 3.99 million Messenger 3.57 million WeChat 2.68 million Xiao Hong Shu 1.88 million Discord 1.73 million QQ 1.40 million Life360 1.31 million - Data Graphic
-
Key Stats:
- Taking the top two and three spots for social media apps with the most Apple App Store downloads are messenger apps. These are WhatsApp and Telegram. They are created for mobile devices and computers, which allows conversations to be managed on multiple devices. In June 2022, WhatsApp had over six million downloads on the Apple App Store, and Telegram had 4 million in the same period.
- Xiao Hong Shu, Discord, QQ, and Life360 were downloaded over one million times in 2022, placing them among the top 10 social media apps for the social media category with the most downloads.
- With approximately 3.99 million downloads in June 2022, Facebook ranks fourth among the most downloaded social media apps. It outpaces Messenger by more than 10% or about 420,000 downloads.
Top Gaming Apps in the App Store, by Number of App Downloads
Gaming Apps with the Most App Store Downloads
Gaming App | No. of Downloads |
---|---|
X-HERO | 7.18 million |
Survivor!.io | 4.64 million |
Subway Surfers (Official Chinese Version) | 3.49 million |
Stumble Guys | 2.89 million |
Sheep is a sheep | 2.17 million |
Subway Surfers | 1.67 million |
Shell Commando | 1.56 million |
ROBLOX | 1.51 million |
Sheep baa sheep | 1.47 million |
Fishdom | 1.40 million |
- Data Table
-
Gaming Apps with the Most App Store Downloads
Gaming App No. of Downloads X-HERO 7.18 million Survivor!.io 4.64 million Subway Surfers (Official Chinese Version) 3.49 million Stumble Guys 2.89 million Sheep is a sheep 2.17 million Subway Surfers 1.67 million Shell Commando 1.56 million ROBLOX 1.51 million Sheep baa sheep 1.47 million Fishdom 1.40 million - Data Graphic
-
Key Stats:
- The gaming app with the most downloads in September 2022 was X-HERO, with 7.18 million downloads. It is followed by Survivor!.io, 2.54 million downloads ahead of X-HERO.
- Subway Surfers’ official Chinese version was another most downloaded gaming app in September 2022, with 3.49 million downloads. It has 1.15 million fewer downloads than Survivor!.io but 600,000 more than Stumble Guys.
- Shell Commando and ROBLOX had over 1.5 million downloads in September 2022, while Sheep baa sheep and Fishdom had around 1.4 million downloads during the same time period.
App Store Free versus Paid Apps 2023
What Is The Distribution of Free vs. Paid Apps on the App Store?
Around 94.2% of all iOS apps on the Apple App Store were free as of November 2022, while 5.8% required payment. The figures for free apps show an increase of about 0.31% from June 2022, whereas the figures for paid apps show a drop of 4.9%.
What is the Average Price of Apps in the Apple App Store?
The average cost of iOS apps on the Apple App Store is US $4.9, with non-gaming apps costing about US $5.5 and gaming apps costing about US $2.8.