India sees record app spending as consumers embrace digital subscriptions
India’s mobile app market reached a record $345 million in consumer spending in Q2, up 35% year over year, signaling a shift from downloads to paid services. AI chatbots and streaming platforms are leading the growth, according to Sensor Tower.
India has long been known as the world’s largest market for app downloads, but converting that scale into revenue has been a struggle. That picture is changing. According to a new Sensor Tower report, consumer spending on mobile apps in India hit a record $345 million in the second quarter of this year, a 35% increase compared with the same period last year.
The growth is being driven largely by generative AI, streaming services and productivity tools, rather than games. The analytics firm notes that India’s revenue per download has more than doubled over the past three and a half years, while quarterly downloads have stayed flat at around 6.3 billion since 2023.
Eve Chen, an insights analyst at Sensor Tower, described India as a rapidly evolving mobile market with a large user base and a growing willingness to pay for digital services. She attributed the change to wider adoption of digital payment methods, including the Unified Payments Interface and digital wallets, which have reduced friction for in-app purchases, along with increasing acceptance of subscription-based models.
India’s app revenue grew faster in Q2 than any other major app market, generating more than $200 million in quarterly consumer spending. In comparison, Mexico saw 30% growth and Turkey 25%, while the U.S. recorded a 3% decline. Still, India trails far behind more mature markets: revenue per download stands at about $4.60 in the U.S., $3.90 in South Korea and $6.10 in Japan, versus a small fraction of that in India. Chen said the trajectory is what matters, suggesting significant long-term potential.
Generative AI is one of the fastest-growing segments, with OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude together accounting for nearly 83% of India’s AI app revenue in Q2. Non-gaming apps now make up 68% of India’s mobile app revenue in the first half of 2026, up from 58% three years earlier. Google One became the country’s highest-grossing app during the quarter, and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Sony LIV and JioHotstar also saw rising spending.
Gaming defied the worldwide trend, with revenue increasing 3.7% from the previous quarter despite a global decline.
Another app intelligence firm, Appfigures, also sees India’s subscription market growing, though at a slower pace after an AI-fueled surge. Founder and CEO Ariel Michaeli said the numbers are still staggering. Appfigures estimates ChatGPT generates about $60,000 a day in India, down from roughly $80,000 a day last October, and attracted about 1.8 million downloads in the past month.
