Germany App Market Statistics (2023)

Although the German app market has experienced a slight fall from pandemic-inflated revenue in 2021, it remains strong with growing numbers of smartphone users.

In 2022, Germany was the second most lucrative app market in Europe behind the UK and had the tenth-largest smartphone user population in the world. German users spent an average of 3.6 hours on mobile apps last year, following a steady rise each year since 2019.

There was a coronavirus pandemic boom in revenue in 2021, but the market has returned to normal levels in the past year. Taking into account the pandemic impact, the German app market has remained relatively stable for several years, with the number of smartphone users staying at between 64 and 66 million since 2018 and around 2.2 billion downloads each year.

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Video streaming apps and mobile games are extremely popular in Germany; TikTok was the top grossing and most downloaded app in the country last year. Games such as Candy Crush Saga, Gardenscapes and Homescapes also generated significant revenue, while WhatsApp and Telegram were both downloaded more than four million times.

Germany has particularly strict hate speech laws which impact any apps operating in the country, especially social networks. Social media platforms are required to remove incendiary material, but a 2021 follow-up law intended to strengthen the rules further was found to violate EU law. Platforms remain obliged to monitor content, and X has faced legal action after hate speech and antisemitic rhetoric was allegedly not removed from the website within the required period.

There have been reports that Germany has considered banning Telegram over fears of unchecked hate speech and conspiracy theories. In October last year the app was fined €5.1 million for failing to establish a way to report illegal content. 

In 2019, Germany introduced legislation allowing doctors to prescribe courses of app and web-based therapy to anyone using public health insurance. The law was intended as part of the digital transformation of the healthcare system, but the number of referrals so far has been below expectations and digital health apps have suffered as a result.

We have collected data and statistics on the German mobile app market. Read on below to find out more.

Key German App Market Statistics

• The German app market earned $3.7 billion last year, above the 2019 pre-pandemic revenue of $2.3 billion
• German users downloaded apps 2.2 billion times each year since 2020
• In 2022, 68.7 million people in Germany were active smartphone users
• TikTok was the top-earning app in Germany in 2022 at $51.4 million
• Users in Germany spent 38.3 billion hours on mobile apps in 2022

German App Market Revenue

The German app market earned $3.7 billion in 2022, a fall from $4 billion the previous year but significantly more than pre-pandemic revenue. German users spent $53.90 on average on apps last year.

German app market annual revenue 2019 to 2022 ($bn)

German consumer spend per user 2019 to 2022 ($)

German App Market Revenue by App

TikTok was the top-earning app in Germany in 2022 at $51.4 million. Tinder and Disney+ made up the rest of the top 3, at $45.8 million and $34.2 million respectively.

German revenue by app 2022 ($mm)

Source: AppFigures

German Smartphone Users

There were 68.7 million active smartphone users in Germany in 2022, a rise of 2.5 million from the previous year.

Annual German smartphone users 2017 to 2022 (mm)

German Smartphone Population

More than four-fifths of the German population were smartphone users in 2022 at 82.4%. This has remained relatively stable since 2018.

German population smartphone usage 2017 to 2022 (%)

Time Spent on Apps in Germany

Users in Germany spent 38.3 billion hours on mobile apps in 2022, an increase from 36.5 billion hours the year before and 33.9 billion in 2020.

Hours spent on mobile apps in Germany 2019 to 2022 (bn)

German App Market Downloads

There were 2.24 billion app downloads in Germany in 2022, which is a rise from 1.95 billion downloads in 2019.

German app downloads 2019 to 2022 (bn)

German downloads per user 2019 to 2022

German Downloads by App

TikTok was the most downloaded app in Germany in 2022 at 7.1 million downloads, with PayPal second with 6.2 million downloads.

German downloads by app 2022 (mm)

Source: AppFigures