Facebook Ads Cost Per App Install Benchmarks for Wine and Spirits

Introduction

Global cost per app install for Facebook Ads moved through a year of sharp peaks and troughs, with a deep January low, a dramatic June spike, and a late‑summer plateau that eased into November. From November 2024 to November 2025, the benchmark effectively finished where it started, slipping just 2% year over year, but the path between those endpoints was unusually choppy. 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 Wine and Spirits across all countries compared to the global benchmark.

The story in the data

The period opens at $17.55 in November 2024 and closes at $17.18 in November 2025 (−2%). The global average across the 13 months was $15.91 per install, with a standard deviation of $5.80 and an average month‑to‑month swing of $6.29—evidence of meaningful volatility around the mean.

The year’s low arrived in January 2025 at $7.22, followed by a sharp rebound to $12.87 in February (+78%) and a pullback in March to $9.17 (−29%). Costs climbed into April ($14.74), softened in May ($12.05), and then surged to the period’s high in June at $27.90—almost a 3x lift from January’s trough. July retraced to $12.24 (−56% from June), before late‑summer costs stepped up again: $19.88 in August and $22.72 in September. Q4 opened elevated at $20.72 in October and cooled to $17.18 in November; December of the prior year sat lower at $12.61.

Range and rhythm stand out. The span from low ($7.22) to high ($27.90) covered $20.68—roughly 130% of the annual average. The sharpest month‑over‑month moves clustered mid‑year (June’s +132% vs. May; July’s −56% vs. June), while October showed one of the milder shifts (−9% vs. September).

Seasonal and monthly dynamics

Seasonality tracked a “soft Q1, spiky mid‑year, firm late Q3” pattern. Q1 averaged $9.75, well below the annual mean, reflecting a trough through January and uneven recovery into March. Q2 averaged $18.23, but that figure hides a split personality: relatively moderate April–May followed by an outsized June peak. Q3 averaged $18.95, with costs holding in a higher band ($12–$23) and peaking in September. Q4 averaged $16.84 (using October–November 2025 and December 2024), opening strong in October before moderating into November and a notably softer December.

This cadence is consistent with broader Facebook Ads benchmarks: engagement and CPC trends do not always map to CPI, but the competitive intensity visible in CPM analysis around mid‑year and early Q4 often coincides with higher app‑install costs. CTR performance can stabilize when costs rise, but in this window CPI clearly bore the brunt of market swings.

Country vs. Global

For Wine and Spirits across all countries, a category‑specific series was not available in this cut, so the comparison to the all‑industry global benchmark cannot be quantified directly. The global pattern offers a directional proxy: a −2% finish from November to November, a 287% climb from the January low to the June high, and a late‑summer cost band roughly 30% above the annual average. The narrowest month‑to‑month gap occurred in early Q4 (October to November), while the widest separations clustered around the June–July whipsaw.

Closing

Understanding Facebook Ads benchmarks for cost per app install in the Wine and Spirits industry across all countries helps marketers interpret country‑specific ad costs and compare category ad performance to global patterns. This CPI read, grounded in our $3B dataset, outlines the mid‑year spike, Q3 firmness, and Q4 cooling that shaped app‑install economics for the period.