App Store revenues up by 40% to $20 billion in 2016

App Store revenues leapt up by 40 percent in 2016, with developers raking in a gargantuan $20 billion over the course of the year. 

As reported by CNBC, that means Apple's share of the spoils would be somewhere in the region of $8 billion. 

Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, Philip Schiller, revealed the App Store catalogue also expanded significantly over the past 12 months, growing by 20 percent to 2.2 million apps. 

Schiler added that two of the store's biggest growth drivers were Pokemon Go and Nintendo's mobile platformer, Super Mario Run, which was the most downloaded app on Christmas and New Year's Day. 

Coincidentally, that's also the day a new App Store record was set, with customers spending a record-breaking $240 million on the digital marketplace on January 1, 2017. The biggest day of sales ever recorded. 

As we head into the new year Schiller only expects spending to increase, and suggested the App Store's best days are still ahead.