Facebook Ads Cost Per App Install Benchmarks in South Africa

Introduction

South Africa’s app install costs moved on a very different cadence than the global market. Across all industries, Cost per App Install (CPI) in South Africa averaged 2.89 over the observed window (Nov 2024 and Jan–Mar 2025), versus a 10.54 global average for the same months — about 73% lower. The local series showed a dramatic lift into February before a steep comedown in March, while the global benchmark followed a more classic holiday-to-Q1 rhythm. 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 all industries in South Africa compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

South Africa started extremely low at 0.18 in November 2024, climbed to 2.55 in January, spiked at 7.57 in February, then fell back to 1.26 in March. The period high was February (7.57) and the low was November (0.18), yielding a wide 7.38-point range. Month-to-month movements were pronounced: a large step-up from November to January, a near tripling from January to February (+197%), and an 83% drop into March. Taken together, absolute month-to-month shifts averaged 4.56 points — comparable in size to the global series’ 4.55-point average change across November–March, but much steeper in percentage terms due to South Africa’s lower base.

By contrast, the global benchmark moved from 14.97 in November to 10.86 in December, dipped further to 6.56 in January, rebounded to 12.33 in February, and eased to 8.29 in March. That path reflects a predictable Q4-to-Q1 reset with a February rebound.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

Seasonality diverged. Globally, costs were elevated in November, softened through December and January, then recovered in February before cooling in March. South Africa inverted that shape: rock-bottom in November, climbing steadily into a February high, then falling sharply in March. Within Q1 2025, South Africa’s CPI averaged 3.79, while the global benchmark averaged 9.06 — indicating a consistently lower cost environment locally even as both markets saw a February crest.

Country vs. Global

South Africa ran materially “below market” throughout the period. Compared with the global benchmark:

• November: ~99% below (0.18 vs. 14.97)
• January: 61% below (2.55 vs. 6.56)
• February: 39% below (7.57 vs. 12.33) — the narrowest gap
• March: 85% below (1.26 vs. 8.29) — the gap widened again

Overall, South Africa’s CPI averaged 2.89 versus the global 10.54 for overlapping months. The local trajectory was choppier in percentage terms — a multi-fold lift into February followed by an abrupt reset — while the global trend was steadier, with a familiar Q4 peak, Q1 trough, and February rebound. Beyond March, the global series later spiked mid-2025 (notably peaking in June), underscoring broader volatility in worldwide app install costs that South Africa did not mirror during the observed window.

Closing

Understanding Facebook Ads benchmarks for Cost per App Install across all industries in South Africa highlights a persistently lower cost base with a distinct February peak and sharper percentage swings than the global average. This country-specific ad cost view helps situate industry ad performance against worldwide patterns for app campaigns.