Pakistan secured the ninth position worldwide for app downloads in 2024, recording 3.56 billion installs, a 9.2% year-on-year increase, according to a report by IT consultancy firm Data Darbar. The country also ranked 12th globally for total hours spent on mobile applications.
Pakistani users collectively spent 79.1 billion hours on apps — a 14.1% rise from 2023 — underscoring the nation’s growing reliance on smartphones for entertainment, communication, and productivity. Average monthly mobile data usage climbed to 8.4 GB per user, while total broadband consumption reached 13,000 petabytes across 134.8 billion mobile broadband subscriptions.
Despite the surge in app usage, app development activity declined significantly. The number of active developers dropped by 26% to 1,400, and Android app releases fell 55% to 1,700. In total, 2,500 new apps were launched during 2024, including 1,053 games and 784 iOS applications.
Among the most downloaded apps, TikTok led the rankings with 32.4 million installs, followed by CapCut (27.1 million), Facebook (24.3 million), and WhatsApp (22.7 million). WhatsApp Business also saw strong adoption, with 20.9 million downloads.
In the streaming category, Tamasha emerged as the top platform in Pakistan with 10.2 million downloads, surpassing Netflix (3.7 million) and Tapmad (2.5 million).
Regionally, Pakistan’s app download growth outpaced several emerging markets — including Indonesia (8.6%), the Philippines (1.2%), and Mexico (1.2%) — while Vietnam (-13.6%) and Egypt (-1.7%) saw declines.
Globally, mobile users downloaded 136 billion apps, spending 4.2 trillion hours and generating $195 million in mobile ad spending. In-app purchases accounted for $150 billion, while AI-powered apps reached 1.49 billion downloads, driving $1.27 billion in revenue.
