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

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Apple App Store Statistics

There are millions of paid and free apps made by app developers, with over 1.6 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:

  • How Many Apps are in the App Store: The Apple App Store had over 1.6 million apps in 2022, a decrease of around 18% or 363,045 apps from the previous year.
  • Total no. of apps existing: In total, including all iOS and Android app stores, there are currently 8.93 million apps available in the world. 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: The App Store generated US$ 86.8 billion in revenue. The total projected revenue of the app industry in 2022 at US$ 475.90 billion, and expected to grow to US$ 755.50 billion by 2027.
  • No. of total app downloads: The App Store has seen about 8.1 billion app downloads for 2022. 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.
  • 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.
  • No. of apps used by a person daily: Around 49% of people open an app more than 11 times daily.

How Many Apps Are There on the App Store?

There are over 1.642 million apps available in the App Store in 2022, out of the 8.93 million apps available worldwide. The platform has seen about 8.1 billion app downloads in the same period. The Google Play Store, Apple’s top rival and app store for Android users, is at 3.5 million apps and 27.5 billion downloads in 2022.

The Apple App Store, however, is more effective in generating revenue. In 2022, the App Store generated US$ 86.8 billion in revenue, compared to Google Play’s US$ 42.3 billion.

Number of Apps in App Store Per Year (2009-2022)

Number of Apps in the App Store (2009-2022)

QuarterNo. of Apps
20221,642,759
20212,005,804
20202,098,224
20191,837,631
20181,901,836
20172,055,708
20162,171,819
20151,770,713
Number of Apps in App Store Per Year
Data Table

Number of Apps in the App Store (2009-2022)

QuarterNo. of Apps
20221,642,759
20212,005,804
20202,098,224
20191,837,631
20181,901,836
20172,055,708
20162,171,819
20151,770,713
Data Graphic
Number of Apps in App Store Per Year

The App Store had over 1.6 million apps in 2022. It is a drop of over 363,000 apps or 18% fewer apps from the previous year. The App Store’s app count peaked in 2016 with over 2.1 million apps.

Key Stats

  • The App Store saw its lowest number of apps in 2022, when it only recorded around 1.64 million apps, and the second lowest was in 2015, when it recorded around 1.7 million apps.
  • The highest growth for the number of apps in the app store was in 2016, when it increased by 401,106 apps or a 22.65% app growth from the previous year.
  • The number of apps on the App Store decreased by more than 161,000 between 2016 and 2017 and then by 90,000 in 2018.

Growth of Mobile Apps Available in the App Store

There has been a 18% reduction in mobile apps available in the App Store in 2022 compared to the previous year.

App Store App Revenue Statistics

The Apple App Store generated US$ 86.8 billion in revenue in 2022 from its apps and games, a 2% increase from 2021. This is 18.24% of the total projected revenue of the mobile app industry in 2022 at US $475.90 billion.

Mobile gaming apps was responsible for US$ 50 billion for App Store’s revenue for 2022, 57.6% of the platform’s total app revenue. Non-gaming apps in the Apple App Store generated US$ 36.3 billion.

The app market had US$ 265.80 billion in revenue from advertising, US$ 204.90 billion for in-app purchases, and US$ 2.25 billion for paid app downloads in 2022. There are approximately 8.93 million available apps worldwide, with 1.642 million available on the Apple App Store.

Quarterly App Store Mobile App Revenue

Quarterly Revenue for App Store Mobile Apps

QuarterRevenue (in billion USD)
Q1 202322.7
Q4 202221.9
Q3 202221.2
Q2 202221.0
Q1 202221.8
Q4 202122.1
Q3 202121.5
Annual App Store Mobile App Revenue
Data Table

Quarterly Revenue for App Store Mobile Apps

QuarterRevenue (in billion USD)
Q1 202322.7
Q4 202221.9
Q3 202221.2
Q2 202221.0
Q1 202221.8
Q4 202122.1
Q3 202121.5
Data Graphic
Annual App Store Mobile App Revenue

Key Stats

  • The App Store’s highest quarterly revenue to date is at US$ 22.7 billion during the first quarter of 2023
  • From the fourth quarter of 2020, the quarterly revenue for mobile apps in the App Store has not decreased below US $20 billion.
  • 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.

Annual App Store Mobile App Revenue

Annual Revenue for App Store Mobile Apps

YearRevenue (in billions USD)
202286.8
202185.1
202072.3
201958.4
201846.6
201738.5
201628.6
Quarterly App Store Mobile App Revenue
Data Table

Annual Revenue for App Store Mobile Apps

YearRevenue (in billions USD)
202286.8
202185.1
202072.3
201958.4
201846.6
201738.5
201628.6
Data Graphic
Quarterly App Store Mobile App Revenue

Key Stats

  • In the last years, the annual revenue for mobile apps in the App Store peaked in 2022, when it earned US $86.8 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 2022, with a base figure of over US $28 billion in 2016. It has grown by more than 200% from 2016 to 2022.

Most Popular App Categories in App Store 2023

The Apple App Store’s most popular app category is gaming apps, which make up 12.68% of all iOS apps. Gaming apps were responsible for US$ 50 billion in revenue for 2022, 57.6% of the App Store’s total app revenue.

Most Popular App Categories by Share of Available Apps

App CategoriesMarket Share
Games12.68%
Business10.35%
Education9.79%
Utilities9.22%
Lifestyle7.93%
Food & Drink6.58%
Shopping5.26%
Health & Fitness5.08%
Productivity4.84%
Finance4.16%
Entertainment3.92%
Travel3.26%
Medical2.53%
Sports2.37%
Social Networking2.16%
Music1.93%
News1.66%
Photography1.61%
Reference1.41%
Navigation1.06%
Books0.97%
Stickers0.70%
Weather0.30%
Newsstand0.13%
Developer Tools0.10%
No Category0.01%
Most Popular App Categories by Share of Available Apps
Data Table
App CategoriesMarket Share
Games12.68%
Business10.35%
Education9.79%
Utilities9.22%
Lifestyle7.93%
Food & Drink6.58%
Shopping5.26%
Health & Fitness5.08%
Productivity4.84%
Finance4.16%
Entertainment3.92%
Travel3.26%
Medical2.53%
Sports2.37%
Social Networking2.16%
Music1.93%
News1.66%
Photography1.61%
Reference1.41%
Navigation1.06%
Books0.97%
Stickers0.70%
Weather0.30%
Newsstand0.13%
Developer Tools0.10%
No Category0.01%
Data Graphic
Most Popular App Categories by Share of Available Apps

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%.

Top Apps in the App Store 2023

Which Apps Has the Most Downloads on the App Store?

BeReal was the most downloaded app among Apple users, with 13.89 million downloads. It’s a photo app launched in 2019 and it allows users to post dual-camera pictures with their friends.

AppNo. of Downloads (in millions)
BeReal13.89 million
TikTok7.51 million
X-HERO7.18 million
WhatsApp6.96 million
Survivor!.io4.64 million
Telegram4 million
Facebook3.99 million
Amazon Prime Video3.68 million
Messenger3.57 million
Subway Surfers3.49 million
Apps with the Most App Store Downloads
Data Table
AppNo. of Downloads (in millions)
BeReal13.89 million
TikTok7.51 million
X-HERO7.18 million
WhatsApp6.96 million
Survivor!.io4.64 million
Telegram4 million
Facebook3.99 million
Amazon Prime Video3.68 million
Messenger3.57 million
Subway Surfers3.49 million
Data Graphic
Apps with the Most App Store Downloads

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

The most popular social media app on the App Store is BeReal, with 13.89 million downloads. This is followed by WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, and Messenger, each with around three to six million downloads.

Social Media Apps with the Most App Store Downloads

AppNo. of Downloads
BeReal13.89 million
WhatsApp Messenger6.96 million
Telegram Messenger4 million
Facebook3.99 million
Messenger3.57 million
WeChat2.68 million
Xiao Hong Shu1.88 million
Discord1.73 million
QQ1.40 million
Life3601.31 million
Social Media Apps with the Most App Store Downloads
Data Table

Social Media Apps with the Most App Store Downloads

AppNo. of Downloads
BeReal13.89 million
WhatsApp Messenger6.96 million
Telegram Messenger4 million
Facebook3.99 million
Messenger3.57 million
WeChat2.68 million
Xiao Hong Shu1.88 million
Discord1.73 million
QQ1.40 million
Life3601.31 million
Data Graphic
Social Media Apps with the Most App Store Downloads

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

X-HERO was the most downloaded game on the App Store, with 7.18 million downloads.

Gaming Apps with the Most App Store Downloads

Gaming AppNo. of Downloads
X-HERO7.18 million
Survivor!.io4.64 million
Subway Surfers (Official Chinese Version)3.49 million
Stumble Guys2.89 million
Sheep is a sheep2.17 million
Subway Surfers1.67 million
Shell Commando1.56 million
ROBLOX1.51 million
Sheep baa sheep1.47 million
Fishdom1.40 million
Gaming Apps with the Most App Store Downloads
Data Table

Gaming Apps with the Most App Store Downloads

Gaming AppNo. of Downloads
X-HERO7.18 million
Survivor!.io4.64 million
Subway Surfers (Official Chinese Version)3.49 million
Stumble Guys2.89 million
Sheep is a sheep2.17 million
Subway Surfers1.67 million
Shell Commando1.56 million
ROBLOX1.51 million
Sheep baa sheep1.47 million
Fishdom1.40 million
Data Graphic
Gaming Apps with the Most App Store Downloads

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, while 5.8% required payment.

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.