Southeast Asia mobile app revenue reaches $5.3B as downloads hit 18.1 billion in 2025

Southeast Asia’s mobile market continued to expand in 2025, generating 18.1 billion app downloads and reinforcing the region’s position as one of the world’s largest mobile-first economies. According to the latest Sensor Tower report, the market ranked second globally for both downloads and time spent across mobile apps.

While install volumes remain significant, growth across the region is increasingly shifting toward engagement and monetization. In-app purchase revenue rose 16.3% year over year to reach $5.3 billion, reflecting broader spending across entertainment, financial services, shopping, and emerging AI-driven experiences.

The report indicates that Southeast Asia’s mobile ecosystem is entering a more mature phase, where revenue generation and user retention are becoming more important than scale alone.

Media and entertainment apps continued to see rising engagement levels throughout 2025, contributing to increased average usage time across the region. At the same time, monetization patterns diversified beyond gaming, with categories such as video streaming, financial services, and generative AI accounting for a growing share of consumer spending.

One of the fastest-growing segments was short drama content. Downloads in the category increased more than 300% year over year, while revenue more than doubled during the same period. Apps including FreeReels and DramaWave expanded rapidly across Southeast Asian markets using a mix of advertising-led and in-app purchase monetization strategies.

The report highlighted short-form scripted video as an increasingly important engagement driver as platforms compete for user attention in mobile-first entertainment environments.

Financial services also remained a major contributor to mobile growth in the region. Digital wallets such as ShopeePay and Touch ’n Go eWallet continued to scale, with ShopeePay recording 34% year-over-year download growth, largely driven by Indonesia.

Investment and trading platforms emerged as another high-growth category. Apps including moomoo, Webull, and OKX frequently appeared among the region’s top-performing financial apps, while the broader investment segment posted 33% annual download growth.

Digital banking platforms are also expanding their role beyond payments. Services such as MAE by Maybank increasingly integrate savings, investment, and lifestyle features aimed at improving engagement and long-term retention.

Shopping apps remained among the most widely used categories in Southeast Asia, where the market ranked third globally by downloads and second by time spent. However, growth in the segment has started to stabilize, increasing competition among both regional and cross-border commerce platforms.

Shopee, Lazada, and Tokopedia continued to lead the market, while international platforms including Temu, Taobao, and 1688 expanded visibility across multiple countries in the region.

The report also pointed to the growing role of AI in commerce discovery. Referral traffic from AI-powered sources to retail websites more than doubled over the past year, suggesting that AI-driven shopping discovery is beginning to influence acquisition strategies across the sector.