Pakistan among top 10 global markets for app downloads

KARACHI: Pakistan ranked among the top 10 global markets for app downloads in 2024, with 3.56 billion installs — a 9.2% increase year-on-year (YoY), The News reported on Sunday, citing data released by IT consultancy firm Data Darbar.

The growth positioned the country ninth worldwide in downloads and 12th in total hours spent on apps.

Pakistanis logged 79.1 billion hours on mobile applications, a 14.1% jump from last year, underscoring the central role of smartphones in daily life.

Average mobile data usage climbed to 8.4 gigabytes per month per user, with broadband consumption crossing 13,000 petabytes across 134.8 billion mobile broadband subscriptions.

Despite rising consumption, app development in Pakistan slowed. Active developers fell 26% to 1,400 in 2024, while Android app releases dropped 55% to 1,700. In total, 2,500 new apps were released during the year, including 1,053 games and 784 iOS applications.

TikTok remained the most downloaded app in Pakistan with 32.4 million installs, followed by CapCut at 27.1 million, Facebook at 24.3 million, and WhatsApp at 22.7 million. WhatsApp Business also posted strong demand with 20.9 million downloads.

Among streaming apps, Tamasha led with 10.2 million installs, ahead of Netflix (3.7 million) and Tapmad (2.5 million).

Regionally, Pakistan outpaced peers in app download growth, surpassing Indonesia (8.6%), the Philippines (1.2%), and Mexico (1.2%). In contrast, Vietnam and Egypt saw declines of 13.6% and 1.7% respectively.

Globally, mobile usage remained strong with 136 billion app downloads, 4.2 trillion hours spent, and $195 million in mobile ad spending.

In-app purchases generated $150 billion worldwide, while artificial intelligence apps surged to 1.49 billion downloads, contributing $1.27 billion in revenue, the report said.