India’s mobile app market is beginning to generate more consumer spending as users increasingly pay for AI tools, streaming services and productivity apps rather than merely downloading them. The shift matters because India has long been the world’s largest app-download market but comparatively difficult to monetise, and stronger subscription spending could make it a major growth market for app developers.

Consumer spending reached a record $345 million in the second quarter of 2026, 35% higher than a year earlier, while downloads have stayed near 6.3 billion per quarter since 2023. Digital payments such as UPI and wallets are reducing barriers to in-app purchases; non-gaming apps made up 68% of revenue in the first half of 2026, and ChatGPT and Claude accounted for nearly 83% of AI-app revenue in the quarter. India’s revenue per download remains well below that of the US, South Korea and Japan, but its growth rate outpaced other major markets.