Facebook Ads Cost Per App Install Benchmarks in South Africa

Introduction

South Africa’s Cost Per App Install (CPI) sits well below the global benchmark but shows sharp, short-run momentum — a steep lift between July and September 2025 against a baseline that trends mid-teens and contains extreme outliers. 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 available in South Africa compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

Across the provided window, South Africa’s median CPI started at $1.07 in July 2025 and rose to $3.18 in September 2025 — an increase of roughly 196%, with a two-point average of about $2.13. The low point was $1.07 (2025-07) and the high in the sample was $3.18 (2025-09). By contrast, the global median CPI averaged about $21.8 across the 13-month baseline, ranging from roughly $9.36 (Dec 2025) up to a pronounced outlier of $96.91 (Jul 2026). Globally, the baseline moved from $9.95 in July 2025 to $15.66 in September 2025 — a more moderate rise of about 58%.

In absolute terms, South Africa’s CPI was smaller by roughly $8.9 in July and about $12.5 in September when compared to the global monthly medians. On a relative basis, South Africa’s CPI trailed global levels by approximately 80–90% across the two observed months — averaging about 90% below the global median across the period.

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

The baseline shows a rhythm of mid-teens CPI for much of the year with occasional large jumps: a notable increase in February 2026 (~$30.13) and a striking spike in July 2026 (~$96.91) that skews the overall distribution. There’s also a dip into the high single digits in December 2025 (~$9.36). Within the South Africa sample, the most visible dynamic is a rapid rebound from July to September 2025, moving from just over a dollar per install to just over three dollars — a compact, high-velocity movement rather than a drawn-out seasonal arc.

Typical platform seasonality appears in the baseline: softer CPIs in late Q4 followed by early Q1 lift, punctuated by intermittent spikes later in the year. South Africa’s two-month series captures a quick uptick rather than a multi-quarter seasonal pattern.

Country vs. Global

South Africa’s Cost Per App Install is consistently below average: roughly 80–90% beneath global medians in the supplied months. While the global trend between July and September 2025 was an orderly rise (+58%), South Africa’s was choppier and steeper (+196%), producing a narrower relative gap in September (about 80% below) than in July (about 89% below). The global baseline displays greater absolute variability due to episodic large spikes (Feb and Jul 2026), whereas the South Africa sample shows a sharper short-term lift within a much lower cost band.

Understanding Cost Per App Install benchmarks for All industries available in South Africa and how they compare to global Facebook Ads benchmarks, CPC trends, CPM analysis, CTR performance and broader country-specific ad costs frames a clear picture of industry ad performance in South Africa.