Last year, mobile applications developed in South Korea recorded 1.8 billion downloads overseas. Google Korea said this on Tuesday, citing a report by global consulting firm Public First. The figure is more than 2.5 times domestic downloads of 730 million.

The report said the countries that downloaded South Korean apps the most were India with 365 million, Indonesia with 131 million, Brazil with 123 million, the United States with 77 million and Mexico with 73 million. South Korea's ranking in active developers rose to No. 1 in the world in 2025 from No. 3 in 2024.

Revenue generated by the Google Play and Android ecosystem for South Korean app publishers and the domestic economy in 2025 totalled $69 billion, or about 98 trillion won, it said.

Efficiency for Android developers improved by an average of 33 percent a year through the adoption of artificial intelligence technology and tools, the report said. That is equivalent to an annual productivity gain of $14,000, or about 20 million won, per developer. South Korean Google Play app developers using Google AI tools saved 9.2 hours a week, it added.

Google Play's Changgu programme, run with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Korea Entrepreneurship Foundation, supported 660 startups from 2019 to 2025, the report said. This year, it selected 100 companies for the eighth cohort and is running the programme. Combined revenue of the seventh-cohort startups during their participation rose 70 percent to 51.69 billion won from 30.05 billion won, while exports increased 90 percent to 5.4 billion won from 2.83 billion won over the same period.

Ji-woong Jang (장지웅), chief executive of Teida, said, "In the early days of the startup, we had difficulties targeting the U.S. market, but through the Changgu programme we improved our understanding of users and raised app retention, laying a foothold for global expansion."

Soo-hyun Cho (조수현), secretary general of the Game Culture Foundation, said, "Domestic game startups and developers have entered the global market through global platforms." Cho added, "I hope the recently announced decision to cut Google Play fees and allow external payments is introduced swiftly so sustainable growth can continue."