Pakistan’s mobile app development sector faced a dramatic downturn in 2024, with Android app production plummeting by 55% year-over-year to just 1,700 apps. According to the State of Apps 2024 report by Data Darbar, citing Appfigures data, this marks one of the most significant declines in the country’s digital history.

While iOS development held steady at 784 apps—consistent with figures since 2022—experts say the shift reflects a growing preference for Apple’s monetization ecosystem, even in a market dominated by Android users.

The report highlights several factors behind the Android slump: rising development costs, limited revenue opportunities, and fierce competition from global players. Additionally, many Pakistani developers are registering their apps abroad to bypass payment restrictions and taxation hurdles, causing domestic analytics to underrepresent actual output.

The developer community itself is shrinking. By the end of 2024, the number of active app developers in Pakistan had dropped 26% to just 1,400—the lowest in five years. This signals a deepening brain drain, as talent increasingly seeks overseas opportunities with better financial and regulatory stability.

Despite Pakistan’s strong standing in regional app downloads and user engagement, the decline in local production raises red flags. Without urgent policy reforms and incentives to retain talent, the country risks becoming a digital consumer rather than a creator in the global tech economy.