Even with all of the marketing, onboarding and retention strategies deployed by app companies, the vast majority of downloads end with an inactive and unengaged user. More than 90% of users on average switch off before day 30.
There is some variance across platforms, categories and countries, but for the most part a majority of users will switch off within that time period. This makes the job of retaining a user one of the most important for marketers, as even keeping one in ten users pushes their app above the average.
Identifying at which stage in the onboarding process a user switches off is also key to improving the journey for each user. A lot of apps that offer subscription services have recently added more onboarding processes and checkups, as a way to reduce the amount of churn.
Too high a churn rate can be the death knell for an app, although there are many strategies out there and an entire ecosystem of marketing and analytics platforms with the goal of improving retention and stickiness. Making the adjustments as soon as possible is the priority, as most apps don’t have a long window of time to engage new users.
We have collected data and statistics on app churn rate. Read on below to find out more.
Key App Churn Statistics
- iOS has an average churn rate of 96.3% by day 30, while Android is higher with 97.9% churn
- Photo & Video apps have the highest average churn rate; News have the lowest
- China has the highest churn rate by country of 98.5%
- Over 50% of annual subscribers are inactive by the end of their subscription
- Lifestyle apps have the highest average subscription churn rate
iOS App Churn Rate
App churn rate has increased on iOS over the past four years across all days, with 96.3% of app downloaders becoming inactive by day 30.
iOS app churn rate 2020 to 2023 (%)
Android App Churn Rate
App churn rate has also increased on Android over the past four years, with less than four percent of downloaders sticking round by day 30.
Android app churn rate 2020 to 2023 (%)
Churn Rate by Category
Photo & Video had the highest churn rate in 2023 by category, with 98.7% of downloaders dropping off. News had the lowest churn rate at 89.3%.
Churn rate at 30 days by category 2023 (%)
| Category | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| News | 87.9 | 89.8 | 88.7 | 89.3 |
| Business | 95.4 | 95.3 | 94.9 | 95 |
| Shopping | 94.3 | 94.6 | 95 | 95.8 |
| Finance | 94 | 94.9 | 95.4 | 95.5 |
| Music | 96.5 | 96.2 | 96.2 | 96.3 |
| Food & Drink | 96 | 95.8 | 96.3 | 96.7 |
| Health & Fitness | 96.8 | 96.8 | 96.3 | 97 |
| Lifestyle | 96 | 95.9 | 96.4 | 97.2 |
| Productivity | 96 | 96.6 | 96.8 | 97.3 |
| Entertainment | 96.4 | 96.5 | 97 | 96.9 |
| Travel | 96.6 | 96.7 | 97 | 96.9 |
| Social | 96.7 | 96.9 | 97.2 | 97.9 |
| Gaming | 97 | 97.3 | 97.6 | 97.3 |
| Education | 98.1 | 98 | 97.9 | 98 |
| Photo & Video | 97.8 | 98.3 | 98.5 | 98.7 |
Source:Â AppsFlyer
Churn Rate by Country
China had the highest churn rate by country of 98.5%, while its neighbour Japan has the lowest at 94.9% on day 30.
Churn rate at 30 days by country 2023 (%)
| Country | 30 Day churn rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Japan | 94.9 |
| Peru | 95.6 |
| Nigeria | 96.5 |
| Australia | 96.6 |
| South Africa | 96.6 |
| Germany | 97 |
| Spain | 97 |
| Argentina | 97 |
| United Kingdom | 97.1 |
| France | 97.1 |
| United States | 97.2 |
| Italy | 97.4 |
| India | 98.1 |
| Brazil | 98.3 |
| China | 98.5 |
Source:Â AppsFlyer
Churn Rate by Region
Latin America had the highest churn rate by region in 2023, while Asia Pacific had the lowest.
App churn rate at day one by region 2023 (%)
Subscription Churn Rate
After one year, only 4% of weekly subscribers are still active. In comparison, 41% of those with an annual subscription stick around.
Subscription churn rate by sub type 2023 (%)
Subscription Churn Rate by Category
Lifestyle apps have the highest subscription churn rate at 96% for weekly subs, 83% for monthly subs and 59% for annual subs.
