$150bn subscription payment economy continues to grow with mobile payments

credit: TippaPatt/Shutterstock
credit: TippaPatt/Shutterstock

The subscription payment economy continues to be one of the most profitable in the payments ecosystem by growing 13% from last year’s figures. 

This comes following Sensor Tower’s annual State of Mobile report for 2025, revealing that spending on in-app purchases on subscriptions hit $150bn globally, an increase of 13% year-over-year. 

Sensor Tower also highlighted the stronghold mobile phones have on consumers when it comes to performing digital payments for in-app purchases and subscriptions, with 4.2 trillion total hours spent on smartphones worldwide last year. 

The findings of the report show that for the fourth consecutive year, growth in consumer spend on non-gaming apps outpaced games, with spend in non-games increasing by nearly $14bn in 2024 (25% YoY growth). Film and television streaming ($11.9bn) and social media ($11.7bn) were the two largest subgenres by consumer spend in 2024 by a strong distance.  

Oliver Yeh, CEO and Co-Founder of Sensor Tower, commented: “Apps continue to capture consumer attention, particularly in non-games. And as consumers spend more time on mobile, they are becoming far more comfortable making purchases on their devices. 

“Apps have shifted their monetisation strategies to capitalise on this increased attention, finding innovative ways to streamline and improve consumers’ digital experience. As we look ahead, we expect to see more apps experiment with AI, finding novel and creative ways of incorporating the technology.”

As Yeh alluded to, it was a significant year for AI, in particular AI chatbots that surged in interest with the sophistication of Generative AI. 

Apps such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Doubao saw consumers spend upwards of $1.1bn on these Generative AI apps, a 200% increase from last year. Time spent on these apps went over 7.7 billion hours, demonstrating a consumer and technology shift. 

ChatGPT has become the fastest-growing app in history ever since it was launched by OpenAI at the end of 2022. Last year, according to Sensor Tower, it attracted 50 million monthly users quicker than Disney+, Temu and YouTube Music

Elsewhere, digital wallet and mobile banking continue their growth in a growing digital economy. These apps maintained double-digit growth year-over-year for time spent, and approached 7.5 billion downloads in total.

Cryptocurrency exchange apps also continue to see considerable growth, with Binance (6th) and Tonkeeper (9th) ranking amongst the top 10 financial apps downloaded in 2024.