At 5 billion, India leads global app downloads in Q3 2019

India led the world in app downloads in Q3 (July 1 to September 30) of 2019, as per a report by Sensor Tower. Google Play downloads in India have a CAGR of 58 per cent since 2016, increasing from fewer than 1 billion in Q1 2016 to 5 billion in Q3 2019. However, downloads in India fell 6 per cent quarter-on-quarter. 

As per the report, worldwide app downloads totalled 29.6 billion in Q3 of 2019, a 9.7 per cent year-over-year increase. Google Play downloads increased 11.4 per cent to 21.6 billion, while App Store downloads increased 5.3 per cent to 8 billion. 

Facebook’s WhatsApp was the No. 1 app for the 12th consecutive quarter. It had 27 million first-time downloads on the App Store and 156 million on Google Play. The last quarter when WhatsApp was not the top overall app was back in Q3 of 2016, when Pokémon GO took the top spot. 

After two quarters of declining downloads, TikTok bounced back in Q3 of 2019 with 13 per cent growth quarter-over-quarter to take the No. 2 spot among apps, behind WhatsApp. Facebook’s Messenger and Facebook apps took the next two spots. 

On the App Store, after five quarters in the top spot, TikTok was surpassed by YouTube in Q2 of 2019. TikTok regained the No. 1 position in Q3 with nearly 37 million downloads. Netflix had 23 per cent quarter-over-quarter growth to re-enter the top 10 in Q3 of 2019. This was its second best quarter on the App Store just behind Q1 of 2019. 

Meanwhile, Club Factory, a popular shopping app in India, reached the top 20 apps on Google Play for the first time. Its Club Diwali Sale helped it reach No. 1 on the Top Free chart in India. 

Four apps had more than 120 million downloads on Google Play in Q3 of 2019, including WhatsApp, Messenger, TikTok, and Facebook. Likee was No. 5 with 80 million installs. 

Sensor Tower’s Mobile Insights team compiled the download estimates provided in this report using the Sensor Tower Store Intelligence platform.