State of Food Delivery and Restaurant Apps in Europe 2021: Installs Rise 44% Since 2019

When restaurants closed their doors for in-person dining during the pandemic, consumers relied on mobile-first or online delivery services more than ever before. Our latest report, available now as a free download, shows food app installs hit almost 170 million in Europe in the first three quarters of 2021, climbing 44 percent since the same period in 2019. We analyzed download trends from January 2019 through September 2021 for Food Delivery and Food Brand sub-categories.

Adoption Expected to Pick Up Speed in Q4 2021

In the first three quarters of 2019, European food app installs reached 117 million. By Q3 2020, Google Play and App Store downloads for these apps across Europe surpassed Q4 2019 by 4.5 million. In the first three quarters of 2021, the top 10 food brand apps hit 65 million installs, with McDonald's commanding over 40 percent of the total. UberEats and Just Eat accounted for a combined 45 percent of the total downloads for the top 10 food delivery apps. Consumers depended on mobile-first food apps since the emergence of COVID-19 and based on install data from the last few years, food app installs are forecasted to surpass 60 million in Q4 2021.

Food Brands Allocated Their Budget Into More Video Ads Amid COVID-19

In the United Kingdom, the top food brand apps saw their investment in Display and Video ads peak in Q3 2020. In the first half of 2020, food brand apps which include McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, and Domino's Pizza, invested around 25 percent of their advertising budget to Video and climbed to almost 75 percent in the second half of the year.

Facebook has been a major device for food delivery apps throughout the pandemic and top food delivery brands including UberEats, Just Eat, and Deliveroo invested over 80 percent of their advertising spend on the platform in the first half of 2021.

McDonald's Consistently Ranked as the Top Food Brand in Europe

McDonald's remains in a leading position in most European countries such as Ireland, Spain, and Russia, with average daily downloads peaking at roughly 250,000 in January 2020. In H1 2021, installs for McDonald's in Russia, Spain, and the U.K. totaled 9 million.

Q1 2021 was the app's best quarter in terms of growth in all three markets since 2019.

Our forecast predicts downloads of Food Brand and Food Delivery apps will hit 64 million in Q4 2021 and user adoption is expected to accelerate.

Check out the Sensor Tower Store Intelligence platform and Usage Intelligence for more analysis, including key insights on download trends, monthly active users for selected geographies, and more. To view more digital ad spend data, get set up with a Pathmatics demo. Download the complete State of Food Delivery and Restaurant Apps in Europe 2021 report in PDF form below: