The app sector should contribute €63 billion to the EU economy by 2018 and employ 4.8 million people, according to a new report commissioned by the European Commission.

The report suggests that developers in Europe are capable of making the region a global leader in app development, but raised concerns about a skills gap and issues around connectivity and fragmentation.

The app economy currently employs one million developers, as well as 800,000 people in marketing and support roles. According to the report, this could increase to 2.7 million developers and 2.1 million support staff by 2018.

The research found that 28 EU companies created 40 per cent of the top 100 grossing apps in the EU and US in 2013. ‘Candy Crush Saga’ maker King was ranked first, followed by Supercell in second and Rovio in fifth place.

Neelie Kroes, Europe’s digital chief, said the figures give her hope in the face of increasing youth unemployment but added that the region needs to “address concerns about connectivity and fragmentation”.

Around a third of respondents (35 per cent) said they are frustrated by the lack of interoperability between mobile platforms. Many developers also complained about a dependence on US platforms, and the impact this has on revenue.

In terms of competing with other regions, 38 per cent of developers said EU companies have difficulty competing with US salaries and a quarter said there weren’t enough developers.

In addition, 33 per cent said the level of developer education is lower in Europe and 30 per cent said start-up developers lack business expertise.

The report also highlighted a real imbalance of the sexes in the app industry, with just 9 per cent of developers being female.