The number of apps downloaded by Pakistanis in 2022 rose by 35.4 per cent compared to the preceding year, making the country the fastest-growing apps market in the world, according to a report by Data Darbar, a private markets intelligence platform.

The growth rate, which had been 26.8pc in 2021 and jumped to 35.4pc last year, was almost three times that of the next country on the list — China. The growth rates of the next three countries — India, Mexico and Indonesia — were below 10pc.

However, in absolute terms, Pakistan was ranked ninth, up three spots from the preceding year.

“With 3.5 billion downloads, Pakistan was ahead of all comparable markets except for Indonesia. That trend replicated on other metrics: the Southeast Asian nation had both the highest number of publishers and locally made apps,” the report added.

Pakistanis used mobile apps for 161bn hours in 2022, according to the report, placing the country sixth worldwide.

“Pakistan was only second to Indonesia in terms of the number of outstanding active apps by local publishers. However, in terms of traction and usage, very few of the locally developed apps make it to the top charts in Pakistani.”

WhatsApp Business was the most downloaded app according to the report, followed by Snapchat, WhatsApp Messenger, Capcut and TikTok. Among locally developed apps, Easypaisa was the most downloaded, followed by Jazz, Jazz Cash, Zong and Universal Remote TV.

Most downloaded apps by category

Shopping

• Alibaba
• Daraz
• OLX
• Savyour
• Ali Express

Short-videos (excluding TikTok)

• SnackVideo
• Bigo Live
• Likee
• FunXD
• Chamet

Audio streaming

• Spotify
• Starmaker
• Bajao
• Soundcloud
• YouTube Music

Finance

• Easypaisa
• JazzCash
• Barwaqt
• Zindigi
• PK Loan

Video streaming

• Tamasha
• Netflix
• ARY Zap
• Tapmad