On December 30th Patently Apple posted a report titled "A new Record for App Spending on Christmas Day was set and once again Apple's App Store Led the Way. Today a new report has surfaced revealing mobile app consumer spending in Europe for 2020 with Apple's App Store leading the way where it counts, in revenue, over Google's Google Play store.

Considering the tremendous lead in smartphones in Europe that are Android based,  approximately 75%, it's amazing that iPhones, holding approximately 25% of the European market, generated more revenue in mobile app spending.

According to a new SensorTower report posted today, European mobile consumers spent an estimated $14.8 billion across the App Store and Google Play during 2020, Sensor Tower Store Intelligence data shows.

This represented a 31 percent year-over-year increase in gross revenue from 2019, based on user spending for in-app purchases, subscriptions, and premium apps. Such large growth was accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, as Europe became an epicentre for the outbreak. European spending accounted for 13.3 percent of global mobile app revenue in 2020, which reached $111 billion.

In this report, we delve deeper into mobile non-gaming and gaming app revenue and download figures, and identify which countries are driving the region’s markets forward.

European Mobile App Revenue

The App Store drove the majority of user spending in Europe, generating $8 billion in gross revenue in 2020, a Y/Y increase of more than 31 percent. Google Play revenue, meanwhile, grew 30.8 percent Y/Y to $6.8 billion.

Overall, the App Store accounted for 54 percent of user spending in Europe during 2020, with Google Play making up the remaining 46 percent.

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Europe’s Top Countries

The European country that drove the most revenue in 2020 was the United Kingdom, generating $2.9 billion in user spending across the App Store and Google Play, up 33 percent Y/Y. Germany was close behind with $2.8 billion, an increase of 33.3 percent, while France ranked No. 3, having accrued $1.7 billion, up 25.8 percent.

The U.K. represented the largest share of App Store revenue in Europe with $1.9 billion, or 23.4 percent of all user spending on the store. Germany, meanwhile, ranked No. 1 for Google Play revenue, generating $1.6 billion, or 22.7 percent of the total.

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Europe’s Top Mobile Apps

As in 2019, dating platform Tinder was the top grossing non-gaming app in Europe in 2020, generating $329.5 million in user spending, significantly ahead of the No. 2 app Netflix. It should be noted, however, that Netflix redirects App Store users to its website for new sign-ups, which Sensor Tower does not track.

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European Mobile Game Revenue

Mobile games generated $9.6 billion in Europe in 2020, an increase of 28 percent Y/Y. In total, gaming accounted for 64.8 percent of all mobile app revenue in Europe based on user spending. That’s down from a 66.4 percent market share in 2019, with categories such as Entertainment and Social Networking growing faster when it comes to revenue. Globally, European player spending in games accounted for approximately 12 percent of the global mobile games market.

While on a global level the App Store generated more game revenue than Google Play, in Europe the opposite was true. In Europe Google Play edged out the App Store. Users spent $5.4 billion in the region last year, up 28.6 percent Y/Y, while the App Store generated close to $4.2 billion from user spending, an increase of 27.3 percent.

Overall, Google Play represented 56.3 percent of total gaming revenue in Europe, while the App Store accounted for 43.7 percent.

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For more statistics, read the full SensorTower report.