Local apps: what they tell you about a market

Why some countries have tens of thousands of single-country apps, and how to read a country's local list.

What makes an app local

Regulated services (banks, insurers, government), physical services (delivery, taxis, transit), media in a local language and retailers. They are limited to a country because their business is.

Reading a country's list

Sort the local apps by installs. If the top is all banks and government apps, the digital economy is young and concentrated. If it is full of delivery, marketplaces and local social apps, there is a strong local tech scene that competes with global apps.

Gaps

A category where global apps lead the charts but no local app has traction can be an opening, if the reason is not regulation. Compare the local list with the country's top charts.