Global app marketing platform Adjust today released its second global Mobile App Growth Report, in collaboration with Facebook.

Charting app growth and retention trends in 2020, the report demonstrates the resilience of the app economy, with the strongest growth in APAC, MENA and South America. Gaming is the world’s fastest-growing vertical, led by Argentina, while India tops the charts as the fastest-growing region.  

Adjust created a global map to highlight mobile app trends outside big, mature markets — showing app marketers where the highest growth potential can be found. 

Andrey Kazakov, COO of Adjust said: “Now more than ever, mobile marketers need a roadmap to identify just the right users, in just the right locales, at just the right points in their journey.

“Adjust’s data, coupled with Facebook’s insights into user preferences and actions, enables marketers to target and retain their most highest-value users.”

Highlights on standout verticals and regions include: 

  • Gaming wins globally: Following on from the findings in Adjust’s Mobile App Trends in 2020, games were the top-ranking vertical. This is largely due to innovative business models and instantly playable games that are designed to engage with simplistic, satisfying mechanics. 
  • Latin America dominates gaming, as increased accessibility and growing urban populations spur rapid mobile development. Three of the top-five countries in gaming are in Latin America, with Argentina leading the pack. Vietnam, Brazil, China and Mexico are also at the top.
  • India is growing the fastest, with ever-increasing mobile penetration. The fastest growing app vertical is education, while entertainment is the one to watch, as a highly competitive market in streaming and Over the Top (OTT) media emerges.
  • Entertainment has grown rapidly, and subscriptions are the trend to watch. According to research conducted by Adjust, using Apptopia data, nearly 80 percent of the top 225 apps in the Google Play Store and nearly 50 percent of the top 225 apps in the App Store are subscription-based. 
  • Korea and Vietnam top the charts for e-commerce, as the two fastest-growing markets in mobile-first commerce. For Vietnam in particular, apps there have massive room to grow, building in untapped markets with eager consumers. China, Egypt and Colombia are also strong performers in e-commerce. 

Bryan Wang, Director of Marketing Science, Greater China Region & Gaming at Facebook said: “The mobile app is truly a global business. It’s easy to start because of the low barrier to entry, but also easy to fail if you do not understand the markets and users well.

“The data and insight in the Mobile App Growth Report can help app advertisers identify their new market entry strategies and enable the winning tactics effectively.” 

These findings should equip marketers with the knowledge to create an effective strategy. The report also provides marketers with more information on how to create hyper targeted and personalised customer experiences.