RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – People in Brazil spent an average of 3 hours and 40 minutes using applications (also known as apps) in 2019. The rate is 35 percent higher than in 2017.
These figures come from the main report on the subject in the world, the consultancy firm App Annie. The 2020 edition was released on Wednesday, January 15th.
Brazil ranked third overall in terms of time spent on apps, slightly above the average, with 3 hours and 45 minutes.
Brazil was surpassed only by China, where people mess with these programs for almost 4 hours, and Indonesia, where the daily time reached 4 hours and 40 minutes. Next come South Korea (3h40) and India (3h30).
When comparing between 2019 and 2017, China had the largest increase (60 percent), followed by India, Canada and France (25 percent), Indonesia (20 percent) and Brazil, Germany, South Korea, Japan and the United Kingdom (15 percent).
When judging by age, the so-called generation Z (born between 1997 and 2012) spent 3 hours and 46 minutes per app per month and had 150 sessions per month on the main applications.
The annual download of applications grew by 45 percent over the last three years: from 140 billion in 2016 to almost 204 billion in 2019.
In Brazil, this increase was 40 percent, reaching about five billion last year. Among world countries, the largest increase in the period was from India: 190 percent.
Types
Finance apps were accessed one trillion times in 2019, a 100 percent growth compared to 2017. Brazil also ranked third for this type of program, behind only India and China.
But while some countries already have most of their access in virtual portfolios (China and South Korea), in Brazil and others (such as Indonesia, France and Germany) digital transactions are mostly performed by bank apps. The most downloaded apps in this category were Nubank, FGTS, Picpay, Caixa and Mercadopago.
Brazil was also in third place for increase in time spent on shopping apps, behind India and Indonesia.
Between 2018 and 2019, Brazilians increased their use of this type of tool by 32 percent. The most downloaded apps for this purpose were Mercadolivre, Americanas, Magazine Luiza, AliExpress and Wish.
Brazil also maintained its position for use of food delivery apps. The number of sessions on this type of tool among users here was eight billion, behind the United States (10 billion) and Indonesia (20 billion).
In entertainment applications, Brazil ranked 7th between 2018 and 2019, with a growth rate of 32 percent.
The places where the use of these types of app was highest are India (78 percent), France (60 percent) and Japan (58 percent). The most downloaded apps of this type were Netflix, Youtube Go, Amazon PrimeVideo, Globoplay and Viki.
For social networks, the study did not disclose world ranking, but registered the strength of the Chinese app TikTok. The most downloaded list in Brazil includes Whatsapp, Status Saver, Snapchat, Telegram and Hago.
Investments
Application spending increased 110 percent from US$55 billion to US$120 billion over the same period. Games are responsible for 72 percent of the revenue. China has increased 190 percent over the last three years, reaching 40 percent of the world market.
In 2019, US$190 billion was spent on advertising on mobile devices. This year, the consultancy’s projection is for this number to reach US$240 billion.
Internet of Things
The document highlights the role of apps in the interconnected environment that has been called the ‘Internet of Things’. In the United States, the most downloaded apps for this type of ecosystem were Alexa and Google Home assistants, the Roku audiovisual services aggregator, the Xbox video game system, the Ring home security system and the application linked to a Fitbit connected clock.