By 2021, Worldwide App Economy Will Grow To $6.3 Trillion, With Users Reaching 6.3 Billion

Four years from now, the global app economy will increase to $6.3 trillion, from $1.3 trillion a year ago, at least according a new report recently released by App Annie. The app analytics firm also projected that by the year 2021, the number of mobile app users around the world will grow to 6.3 billion, from 3.4 billion in 2016. Accordingly, the time people spend engaged in apps will increase from 1.6 trillion hours in 2016 to 3.5 trillion hours in 2021.

App Annie pointed out that the estimated values presented in the preceding paragraph represent more than just the earnings generated through app stores, but also includes other forms of monetization, such as in-app advertising and mobile commerce. On average, the 3.4 billion app users of today spend $379 in mobile apps across all three forms of monetization in 2016, which is equivalent to $0.80 per hour for each user. By the year 2021, this average will increase to $1,008.

Of course, mobile markets across the globe have varying statistics. Take the Japanese mobile market for instance -- users there generated an average of $13.98 per hour for each user, while spending over 68 billion hours engaged in apps last year. As for the United States, it generated $2.36 per hour for each user, while in China, $2.01.

According to App Annie, the projected increases are proof of the impact of the shift already happening because of users veering away from physical transactions in favor of mobile transactions. The app analytics firm went to cite how Alibaba had recently revealed that mobile transactions now make up 79 percent of the total transaction value generated by its retail market places in China in fiscal year 2017, which had increased 65 percent as compared to the previous fiscal year.

Interestingly, App Annie predicts that Western mobile markets will fall behind with regards to the shift from physical transactions to mobile transactions. Perhaps the biggest reason is that these markets are still using legacy systems for transactions such as banking, payment transfers, and food purchases. Now contrast that with developing markets, who are now in the process of setting up infrastructure already designed for mobile.