Facebook Ads Cost Per App Install Benchmarks for Marketing & Advertising in South Africa

Introduction

The clearest story in the data is a global Cost Per App Install (CPI) curve that surges mid‑year, cools into December, then rebounds to start the new year. For Marketing & Advertising advertisers, the worldwide median CPI began 2025 at roughly $7.10, spiked to a June peak near $23.76, settled into a Q3–Q4 plateau around the mid‑teens, dipped to $10.43 in December, and rose again to $15.39 in January 2026. The pattern suggests a market that was both elevated and choppy versus a steadier baseline many teams expect from broader CPC trends.

This analysis is based on $3B worth of advertising data from our dataset, which provides strong directional benchmarks. This analysis explores ad performance trends for Marketing & Advertising in South Africa compared to the global benchmark. The South Africa cut has no monthly median observations for the period shown, so the global series provides the reference frame.

The story in the data

Across January 2025 to January 2026, the global CPI for Marketing & Advertising averaged about $13.58 with a median of $13.51, indicating a fairly balanced distribution punctuated by a single outsized spike. The range was wide: a low of $7.10 in January 2025 and a high of $23.76 in June. Month‑to‑month volatility averaged roughly $4.50, with the sharpest moves clustered around mid‑year: +$11.43 from May to June (+93%) and −$12.99 from June to July (−55%).

The year opened soft ($7–$12 in Q1), climbed through April ($13.51) and May ($12.32), and then broke out in June to the annual high. After July’s retracement to $10.77, the market stabilized: August through November held mostly between $14.6 and $16.4, before a December easing to $10.43 and a January 2026 rebound to $15.39. Nearly half of the observed months (6 of 13) cleared $15, emphasizing how much of the year sat in a higher‑cost regime even with the late‑year relief.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

Seasonally, the pattern reads as a Q2 build culminating in a June spike, a Q3 consolidation in the mid‑teens, and a softer December followed by a January reset. H1 2025 averaged about $12.87; H2 moved higher to roughly $14.00, reflecting a mild elevation in the back half despite the year‑end dip. The rhythm suggests competition and demand pressures peaking mid‑year, easing into the holidays, and re‑setting at the start of 2026.

South Africa vs. Global

For Marketing & Advertising in South Africa, no country‑specific time series is available in this window, so a direct gap analysis versus the global CPI is not shown. In practical terms, the worldwide benchmark indicates the prevailing Facebook Ads benchmarks for app‑install costs: a start‑to‑finish rise from $7.10 to $15.39 (+117%), a June high near $23.76, and a mid‑teens platform for much of late Q3 and Q4. Without South Africa’s monthly medians, relative levels (above market, below average, more or less volatile) cannot be quantified for this period.

Closing

Understanding Facebook Ads Cost Per App Install benchmarks for the Marketing & Advertising industry in South Africa—anchored to the global series—helps frame country‑specific ad costs alongside broader CPC trends, CPM analysis, and CTR performance. While local monthly medians are not available for this timeframe, the global CPI pattern provides a clear context for evaluating app‑install economics in South Africa relative to worldwide Marketing & Advertising industry ad performance.