2025 State of Mobile is Live!
Sensor Tower · Jonathan Briskman · February 2025
Q4 2024 Digital Market Index: The Digital Economy Closes 2024 with New Records Across Mobile and Advertising
In-app purchase revenue on mobile apps reached $39.4 billion, up a healthy 13.5% year-over-year. Digital advertising also hit a new high in the United States as advertisers ramped up spend during the holiday season.
The digital economy shows no signs of slowing as 2024 came to a close. New innovations from AI to improved advertising and monetization strategies continued to take hold and provided a boost to digital performance across the globe. Sensor Tower’s latest Digital Market Index report captures recent developments across mobile app performance, digital advertising, and retail media.
Mobile app growth continued to soar in Q4 2024, with global in-app purchase (IAP) revenue across iOS and Google Play reaching $39.4 billion. This was up a staggering 13.5% year-over-year (YoY), and the fastest growth seen in more than three years. Meanwhile, the digital ad market also set new highs across the globe. United States digital ad spend across mobile, desktop, and OTT reached $34 billion in Q4 2024 with 3.8 trillion impressions, buoyed by the holiday shopping season. Ad spend climbed a healthy 9% YoY.
Mobile IAP Revenue Reached $150 Billion in 2024
Worldwide IAP revenue across iOS and Google Play reached $150 billion in 2024, with more than $39 billion coming in the fourth quarter. Revenue growth has only accelerated in recent quarters, with IAP revenue climbing 13.5% YoY. In total, global IAP revenue climbed 12.5% in 2024 vs. 2023. For more details on the latest trends on mobile, check out our State of Mobile 2025 blog post and report, including everything from how AI is boosting the mobile space to which sectors provide the best opportunities for growth amid digital fatigue.
Apps continued to drive the majority of the growth. IAP revenue in non-games climbed 28.2% YoY to $19.2 billion. App revenue is quickly approaching that from games, only trailing by $1 billion in Q4 2024. A year prior in Q4 2023, games had nearly $5 billion more in IAP revenue than non-game apps.
Mobile game revenue, meanwhile, has started to stabilize after several turbulent years. Mobile game IAP revenue across iOS and Google Play saw modest growth in Q4 2024 to reach $20.2 billion (+2.6% YoY). After several years of decline, YoY growth has settled in at around 2 to 4% each of the past six quarters.
TikTok Breaks the $6 Billion IAP Revenue Barrier in 2024
TikTok became the first app to reach $6 billion in IAP revenue for a calendar year. Consumers spent a staggering $6 billion on in-app purchases in TikTok (including Douyin in China), up from $4.4 billion in 2023. The put this in perspective, TikTok had more than double the revenue from any other app or game in 2024 (Monopoly GO was #2 at $2.6 billion). Of course, this was all before TikTok was removed from the app stores in the United States in January 2025 (and restored in mid-February 2025). For more detail on TikTok's place in the United States social media market, check out our blog post from January. In Q4 2024, TikTok approached a record-high $1.9 billion in gross IAP revenue. Among non-games, only YouTube and Google One managed to surpass TikTok's Q4 total in the whole calendar year. ChatGPT was a notable riser in Q4 2024 as it soared into the top 10 by revenue.
The top apps by global downloads was largely unchanged from the previous quarter, led by Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp Messenger. ChatGPT was also the fastest riser among the top apps by downloads, climbing four spots for the second straight quarter to rank at #6 in Q4 2024. And ChatGPT wasn’t the only AI app on the rise in 2024. Fueled by continued demand for AI chatbot apps, the Productivity category saw the highest growth among top categories. Global IAP revenue for the category climbed 46% YoY, while downloads increased by 17% YoY.
The Digital Advertising Market Set New Highs During the 2024 Holiday Season
The year closed with another surge in digital advertising for the holidays. Digital ad spend in the United States across mobile, desktop, and OTT reached $34 billion in Q4 2024 with 3.8 trillion impressions. Ad spend climbed a healthy 9% YoY from the previous high of $31.1 billion in Q4 2023. Ad spend in the US peaks at the end of the year with increased shopping demand during the holiday shopping season.
Other markets also had a strong fourth quarter as well. Digital ad spend in Canada and France each climbed 10% YoY, while the UK achieved 7% YoY growth. Note that the included ad channels vary by market. And don’t forget to check out the other markets, including our two newest markets: Japan and South Korea.
Want More Insights on the Digital Economy? Read the Full Report
Read the Q4 2024 Digital Market Index report highlighting the market leaders in mobile and digital advertising, spanning 21 markets in a dynamic, interactive format covering:
Top Markets - IAP revenue in the US surpassed a record $13.5B while the mobile market in Japan showed signs of bouncing back with 13% YoY growth
Top Categories - Each of the top 10 categories achieved at least 10% YoY revenue growth, with Productivity, Photo & Video, and Entertainment leading the way with 35%+ YoY growth
Top Games - Pokémon TCG Pocket had a huge launch, reaching the top 10 mobile games by both downloads and IAP revenue following its release at the end of October
Digital Advertising - Social channels like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and our newest channel - Reddit - accounted for more than 77% of US digital ad spend in Q4
Retail Media - US Retail Media ad impressions also reached a new high in Q4 with particularly strong growth from Computers and Consumer Electronics advertising from retailers like Best Buy
Written by: Jonathan Briskman, Principal Market Insights Manager
Date: February 2025