Mobile app industry now represents 0.7 per cent of GDP and employs an estimated 1.4 million people

Brussels, Belgium, 3 October, 2022 – A new report commissioned by ACT | The App Association and prepared by Deloitte Finance reveals the app economy contributed €210 billion in direct and indirect revenues in the European Union (EU) in 2021. The report entitled “The App Economy in Europe – A review of the mobile app market and its contribution to the European Economy” also found that the app industry accounted for an impressive 0.7 per cent of the EU’s GDP in 2021, generating an estimated 1.4 million jobs.

The research included the impact of mobile apps in the United Kingdom (UK), which revealed a €86.5 billion direct and indirect revenue contribution to its economy. In total, the app sector represented 1.5 per cent of the UK’s GDP last year, generating an estimated 400,000 jobs.

The industry’s success is, in part, being driven by a continued growth in smartphone and app usage, the new data found, with EU consumers spending 21 per cent more on apps in 2021 than in 2020.

‘Apps have become an integral part of our life’, says Mike Sax, the App Association’s founder and chairperson. ‘The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the digital transformation for many sectors, including healthcare and shopping, and raised significant awareness of their importance. Our research underscores their daily value to the many individuals, businesses, and governmental organisations that they serve, but also their rapidly growing economic importance’.

With mobile phones expected to reach 4.6 billion devices in use globally by 2024, app downloads—including business apps, food and drink apps, medical apps, and health and fitness apps—will continue to increase significantly over the next few years, the study revealed.

The increased use of apps is further enabled by a growing number of mobile-only users, with 21 per cent of the EU population or around 74.8 million people making use of the device as their only access to the web. In the UK, the mobile-only population currently represents 14 per cent of the population or 7.6 million users.

‘Apps today provide us with an increasing set of services that make our lives easier, safer, more connected, and more efficient. We truly believe that we, as smaller app providers, can make a big difference to people’s lives, and this report underscores that. It’s encouraging, and we are convinced that it will motivate more innovation in the sector’, stated Sveatoslav Vizitiu from Wello, an award-winning child nutrition app provider based in Romania and an active member of the App Association.

Apps have also permeated business models in various ways, with many firms now integrating these into the way they provide services to their clients. The future is likely to see businesses offer increasingly new types of services as apps leverage new technologies such as virtual reality (VR), the internet of things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI).

App Stores

The App Association report also examined how app stores have a central position in the mobile app economy by creating a frictionless environment where app users and developers can interact easily. It explores how the mobile app market is a ‘multi-sided market’, bringing together and benefitting both app developers and smartphone users.

‘App stores represent an efficient distribution channel for mobile app developers that optimises costs, creates trust, and encourages market entry’. Sax explains. ‘Today, around 3.5 million apps are available on Google Play and 2.2 million on the Apple App Store because of those benefits. For mobile app users, the platforms provide a reliable, safe and efficient one-stop-shop with access to a host of apps for a wide range of needs’.

Overall, the value created by mobile apps in the EU and UK economies is expected to grow significantly in the years to come, the research concludes. Apps will continue to introduce innovations that will shape the future of European consumers and firms.

The full report is available here.