KARACHI: Pakistan ranked among the top 10 global markets for app downloads in 2024, with 3.56 billion installs — a 9.2 per cent increase year-on-year (YoY) — according to insights released by IT consultancy firm Data Darbar.
The growth positioned the country ninth worldwide in downloads and twelfth in total hours spent on apps.
Pakistanis logged 79.1 billion hours on mobile applications, a 14.1 per cent jump from last year, underscoring the central role of smartphones in daily life. Average mobile data usage climbed to 8.4 gigabytes per month per user, with broadband consumption crossing 13,000 petabytes across 134.8 billion mobile broadband subscriptions.
Despite rising consumption, app development in Pakistan slowed. Active developers fell 26 per cent to 1,400 in 2024, while Android app releases dropped 55 per cent to 1,700. In total, 2,500 new apps were released during the year, including 1,053 games and 784 iOS applications.
TikTok remained the most downloaded app in Pakistan with 32.4 million installs, followed by CapCut at 27.1 million, Facebook at 24.3 million, and WhatsApp at 22.7 million. WhatsApp Business also posted strong demand with 20.9 million downloads.
Among streaming apps, Jazz-owned Tamasha led with 10.2 million installs, ahead of Netflix (3.7 million) and Tapmad (2.5 million). In finance, easypaisa topped with 12.1 million downloads, followed by JazzCash (10.4 million) and Binance (5.4 million). E-commerce platforms Temu (8 million) and Daraz (7.7 million) rounded out the leading categories. Temu marked its debut year in the country.
Regionally, Pakistan outpaced peers in app download growth, surpassing Indonesia (8.6 per cent), the Philippines (1.2 per cent), and Mexico (1.2 per cent). In contrast, Vietnam and Egypt saw declines of 13.6 per cent and 1.7 per cent respectively.
Jazz’s digital portfolio continued to show scale, with Tamasha reaching 17.1 million monthly active users including 1.35 million paid subscribers. JazzCash recorded 12.48 million app-based transaction users and 19.67 million total active users, while SIMOSA reported 20.1 million monthly active users and 18.7 million transactions. GameNow, Jazz’s gaming platform, logged 2 million active users and 2.3 million monthly gameplays.
Globally, mobile usage remained strong with 136 billion app downloads, 4.2 trillion hours spent, and $195 million in mobile ad spending. In-app purchases generated $150 billion worldwide, while artificial intelligence apps surged to 1.49 billion downloads, contributing $1.27 billion in revenue, the report said.
