App revenue from the Android-serving Google Play store has more than doubled between Q1 of 2013 and 2014, as the service continues to grow.

Publishers are launching an increasing number of apps on Google Play, with more than 1.5m apps now available. The number of apps grew by around 60 per cent between July 2013 and June 2014, increasing by 200,000 in just six months of that period, according to app analytics and market data site App Annie.

Growth in revenue is outpacing downloads, but these also continue to increase, with quarterly app downloads growing approximately 50 per cent from Q1 2013 to Q1 2014.

The growth is being seen across the world, with advancing economies such as the US, Brazil, Russia and India all seeing significant gains in downloads per quarter, while established markets like Japan, South Korea, Germany and the UK all seeing huge leaps forward in revenue since last year. Even emerging markets are seeing phenomenal growth, with Turkey and Indonesia rising up the rankings of downloads per quarter by 10 and seven places respectively.

While games accounted for only 40 per cent of downloads in Q1 2014, they generated an astounding 90 per cent of app revenue in the same period, showing how high user engagement can fuel revenue. Despite games dominant position, all other categories saw growth in terms of both downloads and revenue, with communication apps seeing substantial gains in both metrics.