Sensor Tower preliminary data showed a record-high global user spending in apps in 2020, with video streaming and online dating services emerging as the most profitable categories in the past 12 months.

The app analytics company placed TikTok, YouTube and Tinder as the highest earning non-gaming services in the period, with Tencent Video and Disney+ completing the top five.

TikTok, alongside its Chinese version Douyin, accumulated $1.2 billion on Apple’s App Store alone, recording more than 600 per cent increase year-on-year.

The social media app also ranked as the most downloaded app globally in 2020, followed by WhatsApp and Zoom.

Estimates showed global app revenue hit $111 billion in the period, up by 30.2 per cent year-on-year from $85.2 billion in 2019, “as users turned to their mobile devices for education, employment, and entertainment”, mobile insights strategist at Sensor Tower Stephanie Chan explained.

The analytics company also noted record numbers in the gaming category, marking $79.5 billion revenue across Google Play and the App Store, up by 26 per cent year-on-year.

Despite the rise, mobile games’ share of overall consumer spending recorded a slight drop compared to 2019, “reflecting the growth of categories such as entertainment in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic”.