Apple said its App Store ecosystem facilitated more than USD $1.4 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2025, citing a study by economists at Analysis Group.
More than 90% of that commerce did not generate any commission payment to Apple, and the size of the App Store ecosystem has nearly tripled since 2019.
The figures covered three broad areas of marketplace activity. Physical goods and services accounted for USD $1.1 trillion in 2025, while digital goods and services totalled USD $149 billion and in-app advertising revenue reached USD $151 billion.
Physical goods and services made up the largest share of spending in every region tracked by the study. Growth in this area was driven by grocery, food delivery and pickup, general retail, and travel.
Games, enterprise apps, and video streaming helped drive digital goods and services spending, according to the study. Advertising placed by developers within their apps formed the third major revenue stream.
The App Store recorded more than 850 million average weekly users across 175 countries and regions. Apple said that reach helped developers attract customers across international markets.
AI trends
Apple linked part of the latest growth to apps offering consumer-facing artificial intelligence features. In 2025, more than 40 of the top 100 apps on the storefront included those features, and those apps posted stronger billing growth than other top 100 apps.
Apps in categories including health and fitness, photo and video editing, and productivity are increasingly adding AI tools, the company said. Apple also pointed to software development tools with AI coding features as a factor making app creation easier for a broader range of developers.
In that context, Apple highlighted its own software tools, including Xcode and its Foundation Models framework. Developers can use these systems to add AI-based functions and build applications around on-device and cloud-based models.
Tim Cook, Chief Executive Officer at Apple, commented on the results in a company statement. "Developers are the heartbeat of the App Store, and this year's incredible milestone is a testament to their boundless creativity," Cook said.
"We are deeply committed to providing developers with the tools, technologies, and trusted platforms they need to build for the future. Together, developers are creating apps that enrich the lives of users around the world," he added.
Regional picture
The study also pointed to differences in spending patterns across major markets. App Store billings and sales have more than doubled in China over the past six years, while they have more than tripled in both the US and Europe, Apple said.
General retail ranked as the largest category across all markets covered by the research. Beyond that, local habits shaped the next-largest areas of spending.
Travel was the second-largest category in physical goods and services in the US, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. In Korea, food delivery and pickup ranked second, while in China grocery and food delivery became the second- and third-largest categories respectively.
The numbers add to the debate over how much of the App Store economy sits outside Apple's commission model. By stressing that most commerce facilitated by the store does not incur a fee, Apple is drawing a distinction between its role in app distribution and the wider economic activity linked to apps on its platforms.
The findings also underline the breadth of activity taking place through mobile apps, from shopping and travel bookings to subscriptions and advertising. The split shows that app marketplaces are no longer defined only by games and software purchases, but also by their role in everyday consumer transactions.
Apple said developers continue to use the App Store to reach users who rely on apps for groceries, productivity, health and fitness, and communication. The study presents the storefront as both a large commercial channel and a software marketplace.
The latest figures come as large technology companies compete to show developers and regulators the economic value of their ecosystems. For Apple, the new totals offer a fresh measure of the scale of business activity linked to the App Store across both local and global markets.
In 2025, general retail was the largest category across all markets covered by the study.