Google's Public First study and Apple-commissioned App Store research offered separate 2025 estimates for South Korea's app economy, highlighting export reach, developer growth and contrasting fee structures.
Google Korea said a Public First study estimated Google Play and Android generated about 98 trillion won ($69 billion) in revenue for South Korean app publishers and the wider economy in 2025 and supported about 460,000 jobs, with overseas downloads of Korean apps reaching 1.8 billion. Separately, Apple-commissioned research estimated South Korea's App Store ecosystem at 38.1 trillion won ($26.9 billion) in billings and sales, about 85% tied to physical goods and services; the two figures are not directly comparable because they measure different ecosystems and methods. Both reports pointed to strong overseas reach for Korean developers, while South Korea's debate over Google Play fees of up to 30% continued.