How Many Apps In Google Play Store? (Sep 2023)

With 3.553 million applications you can download, Google Play, an Android devices app store, leads the market. Its rival Apple App Store has 1.642 million iPhone apps available, while Amazon App Store has 483 million.

Android App Stores

Aside from the Google App Store, Chinese manufacturers also created several Android-based app stores, with Huawei AppGallery leading the way with 44% of the app market. Other China app stores are Tencent, 360 Mobile Assistant, Xiaomi App Store, Baidu Mobile Assistant, OPPO App Store, Sogou Mobile Assistant, and PP Mobile Assistant.

Google Play Store has grown from 16 thousand apps in 2009 to 3.553 million apps in 14 years, a huge increase of 3.537 million. The platform was first released as Android Market in October 2008 and now serves as an official app store for the Android operating system.

Users can rate apps downloaded to their mobile device in this app store, which allows app publishers or developers to improve or develop new apps.

Google Play had the highest number of apps in 2018, with 3.6 million. In the statistics reported in the same year, 20% of users in the United States expressed a strong preference for Google Play.

Google Play Store saw a 19.22% increase in mobile app availability, with apps increasing from 2.98 million in 2021 to 3.553 million in 2022. (Source: Statista, Statista)

According to a 2022 report, an average of 97 thousand new apps are released monthly in the Google Play Store worldwide. (Source: Statista)

Google Play Store generated US $42.3 billion in revenue from apps and games in 2022, a $5.6 billion decrease from the previous year. It fell short against its main competitor, Apple App Store, which generated US $86.8 billion from apps and games in the same year.

Google Play games generated US $31.3 billion in 2022, falling US $6 billion from the previous year. It is still lagging behind Apple App Store, which took US$ 50 billion in revenue for its gaming apps in the same year.

Google Play revenue from apps and games was $10.6 billion in Q4 2022, showing a $200 million increase from the previous quarter. Its highest quarterly revenue was $12.4 billion in Q4 2021.

The trend for the annual Google Play app and game revenue has been going upward from 2016 to 2021. It saw its first decline in 2022, however, when it garnered US$ 5.6 billion less in revenue or an 11.9% decline from 2021.

The most popular category in the Google Play Store is gaming apps, with a 13.80% share of all available apps. It was responsible for US$31.3 billion or 74% of Google Play Store’s app revenue in 2022

In this section, you will learn about the most popular Google Play App Categories today by their share of available apps.

The most popular category in the Google Play Store is gaming apps, with a 13.80% share of all available apps. It is up by 3.33% compared to the second-largest app category, Education. Coin Master, Candy Crush Saga, Roblox, Pokemon GO, and PUBG Mobile are the games listed in the top 10 leading Android games in the Google Play Store world.

The business category ranks third in the largest app categories with 7.11%, followed by tools (6.46%), entertainment apps (5.50%), music and audio (5.04%), food and drink apps (4.83%), shopping apps (4.74%), lifestyle apps (4.53%), and productivity apps (4.16%).

Despite ranking fourth, the tools category saw a nearly 50% increase in downloads worldwide in 2021 compared to the last year.

TikTok is today’s most popular Android app, with 672 million downloads. It is followed by Instagram, WhatsApp, CapCut, and Snapchat.

In this section, you will know what’s the most popular Google Play app right now based on the download count and revenue, along with some facts for you.

TikTok is today’s most popular Android app, which reached 672 million downloads. It is a mobile app for sharing video content that rose throughout the pandemic, achieving 980.7 million first-time installations in 2020. However, it dropped by 24.54% in 2021.

The mobile communication platforms, Instagram and WhatsApp, ranked second and third, reaching 548 million and 424 million downloads, respectively. In comparison, Snapchat and Telegram ranked fifth and sixth with 330 million and 310 million downloads, respectively.

CapCut, an app that allows users to edit videos, has 357 million app downloads. Subway Surfers and Stumble Guys are the only mobile games to make the top apps list. Facebook was ranked eighth, while Spotify was ranked last with 238 million downloads.

Filto: Video Filter Editor, an editing app, is the most popular Android app in the United States, reaching 1.641 million downloads in 2022. TikTok is trailing behind with 1.613 million total app downloads. It is also the second most downloaded Android app in revenue, generating US $14.11 million.

Candy Crush Saga is the most profitable game in the Google Play Store in the United States, earning US $23.42 million from users. TikTok follows, generating US $14.11 million in revenue.

In this section, you will learn how many free vs paid apps on Google Play – the distribution and revenue share of the platform.

With 3.553 million mobile apps available in the Google Play Store, 3.442 million (or 96.9%) are free to download, while over 110 thousand (or 3.1%) are paid apps. The vast majority of the platform’s apps can be downloaded for free. Thus the company employs monetization strategies or business models like in-app purchases and ads-based profit to generate sufficient revenue.

Free apps generate 98% of Google Play Store revenue. In-app purchases account for 48.2% of total mobile app earnings and is the most commonly-used monetization model.