Apple’s App Store Ecosystem Facilitated Over $500B in Commerce Worldwide in 2019

Apple on Monday announced that its App Store ecosystem supported $519 billion in billings and sales globally in 2019 alone. The new study, conducted by independent economists at Analysis Group, found that the highest value categories were mobile commerce (m-commerce) apps, digital goods and services apps, and in-app advertising.

Since the App Store’s launch in 2008, developers have earned over $155 billion from app sales and in-app purchases. A quarter of those earnings came in 2019. Apple says that the App Store also facilitates the sale of a variety of services and goods, which the study found accounted for $413 billion of the last year’s total.

Of this $413 billion, some categories include:

• Retail apps, including Target, Best Buy, and Etsy, accounted for $268 billion
• Travel apps, including Expedia and United, accounted for $57 billion
• Ride-hailing apps, including Uber and Lyft, accounted for $40 billion
• Food delivery apps such as DoorDash and Grubhub, accounted for $31 billion

“The App Store is a place where innovators and dreamers can bring their ideas to life, and users can find safe and trusted tools to make their lives better,” said Tim Cook, Apple’s CEO. “In a challenging and unsettled time, the App Store provides enduring opportunities for entrepreneurship, health and well-being, education, and job creation, helping people adapt quickly to a changing world. We’re committed to doing even more to support and nurture the global App Store community — from one-developer shops in nearly every country to businesses that employ thousands of workers — as it continues to foster innovation, create jobs, and propel economic growth for the future.”

Billings and sales from digital goods and services comprised $61 billion, and this category included apps for music and video streaming, fitness, education, ebooks and audiobooks, news and magazines, and dating services, among others. Games, the type of app most downloaded in 2019, was the largest generator of billings and sales within this category. Notable games of 2019 included “Mario Kart Tour,” which was the most downloaded game of 2019, and “Sky: Children of the Light” from indie developer thatgamecompany, which won Apple’s 2019 iPhone Game of the Year.

The App Store now has nearly two million apps and is accessed by half a billion people each week across 175 countries.