Google Play and App Store downloads and spending hit record levels

The mobile app economy shows no signs of slowing, with Google Play and the App Store both seeing record levels of downloads and consumer spending during the third quarter of 2017. 

According to a new report from App Annie, the two stores pulled in combined downloads of nearly 26 billion worldwide -- a year-over-year increase of 8 percent. 

Combined worldwide consumer spending increased even more, leaping up by 28 percent year-over-year to $17 billion. 

More people are actually spending time using apps as well, with app usage among Android phone users growing by 40 percent to 325 billion hours. 

As was the case in previous quarters, Google Play maintained a healthy lead over iOS in terms of worldwide downloads, and actually widened its lead by 10 percent. 

That growth was largely driven by emerging markets, and particularly the influx of first-time smartphone owners in those regions.

India, for instance, was the biggest contributor to download growth by a large margin, and has been the largest market for Google Play downloads since Q4 2016.

On the other side of the coin, worldwide consumer spending on iOS was nearly double that of Google Play, and Apple's marketplace increased it's lead compared to Q3 2016. Both stores, however, reached record levels as growth rates exceeded 25 percent.

The graphs below illusturate how both storefronts are faring in terms of consumer spending and downloads. For more information, you can grab the full report from App Annie.