From Candy Crush to Fruit Ninja or Pokemon Go, gaming apps have always kept us entertained. From our commute to work, to waiting for an appointment and helping you to unwind from your busy day… and, of course, during lockdown.
In light of this, Carphone Warehouse has analysed the top 10 countries creating the highest number of gaming apps. They looked at the number and percentage of apps created by each country, how much of each country’s output is made up of gaming apps, and how many hours people spend on their phones.
Data for the top 10 countries creating the most gaming apps as follows:
| RANKING | COUNTRY | % GAME-APPS | GLOBAL % OF APPS CREATED | NUMBER OF APPS (1000s) CREATED IN THE COUNTRY | HOURS SPENT IN 2020 (Billions) |
| 1 | Japan | 27% | 1% | 33.99 | 42.6 |
| 2 | South Korea | 25% | 1% | 33.61 | 45.4 |
| 3 | United Kingdom | 22% | 1% | 38.38 | 25.7 |
| 4 | Russia | 22% | 1% | 37.35 | 95.6 |
| 5 | France | 18% | 1% | 26.48 | 35.1 |
| 6 | United States | 14% | 6% | 174.63 | 176.3 |
| 7 | Germany | 14% | 1% | 44.58 | 33.5 |
| 8 | India | 12% | 5% | 135.72 | 650.6 |
| 9 | Indonesia | 12% | 2% | 45.45 | 127 |
| 10 | Brazil | 9% | 2% | 56.22 | 183.6 |
These are the top 10 gaming app markets in the world
A global look at top gaming app creators in the world finds that Japan leads the pack.
- Japan
- Japan sits in first position with 27% of its apps being gaming apps.
- People in Japan are also spending 3.6h per day on their phones, which could be due to their love for gaming apps.
- Japanese people also spend some of the most money on apps, with 20.2 billion dollars spent during 2020. With in-app purchases mostly caused by in-game spending, this paints a picture of a country obsessed with mobile gaming!
- South Korea
- In second place is South Korea, whose gaming app creation accounts for a whopping 25% of their total output.
- South Koreans spend an average of 3.9 hours a day playing games on their phones.
- Average consumer apps spending is around $5.64 billion. Are they not willing to spend money on their favourite gaming apps?
- United Kingdom
- United Kingdom is in third position, with games accounting for 22% of all apps created.
- Although UK creates a significant amount of gaming apps, Brits don’t spend that much time on their phones compared to other countries, averaging only 2.8 hours per day.
- UK consumers spent $3.35 billion on apps in 2020.
- Russia
- In fourth position we find the Russian apps market, with 22% of their apps coming from the gaming genre.
- Russians spend an average of 3.5 hours per day on apps.
- The average consumer spend in Russia is $1.33 billion.
- France
- France just makes it into the top 5, with gaming apps accounting for 18% of all apps created.
- The country’s users are not spending a lot of time on their phones, only an average of 2.7 hours per day on apps. However, consumers are spending a relatively high amount on apps – $2.06 billion during 2020 to be exact.
- United States
- The country which creates most apps overall only ranks in sixth position, with 14% of its total app output in the gaming genre.
- The US boasted a total consumer spend of 32.63 billion in 2020, the highest in the list.
- Although Americans spend the most on apps they are on their phone for 3 hours a day only, quite low compared to other countries in the list
- Germany
- In seventh position we find Germany. They have created the same percentage of gaming apps as the US, 14%.
- Users in Germany spend an average of 2.4 hours playing games on their phones, and they have spent an average of $3.12 billion on in-app purchases.
- India
- India, one of the strongest countries overall when it comes to app production, mostly creates non-gaming apps – only 12% of its apps are created in the gaming genre.
- India’s users spend a lot of time on their phones – averaging 4.8 hours per day. However, users are not spending that much money, only parting with $0.5 billion during 2020.
- Indonesia
- In ninth position we find Indonesia (12% of total apps are gaming apps.)
- Indonesians spend a whopping 6 hours a day on their mobiles, the highest of any country. Perhaps they can’t resist immersive gaming?
- Indonesians, however, also spend the least with only £0.48 billion spent on in-app purchases in 2020.
- Brazil
- Making it to the top ten we find Brazil, with less than 1 in every 10 apps created being games (9%).
- Brazilians really like to spend time on their phones, however, with users spending 4.8 hours per day glued to their screens!
- However, consumer spending in Brazil is again among the lowest, with only $0.92 billion spent in 2020.
Discover more details on the countries with the highest amount of gaming apps, the most popular apps and even the countries with the highest spending on apps here.
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