The food delivery market has seen significant growth over the past decade. Led by platform-to-consumer services, such as DoorDash and Uber Eats, food delivery has expanded from takeaways to anything and everything, with groceries, tools and other products available in under an hour.
In the beginning, there were aggregators such as Just Eat and Grubhub, which operated more as a middle-man for hungry people ordering takeaway. Couldn’t decide what to order? These services provided a long-list of takeaways available in your area, and the takeaway would be responsible for delivery.
In the mid-2010s, the platform-to-consumer apps first launched. The key difference between the two was the delivery, with Uber Eats and DoorDash hiring workers to pick up the food from takeaway and restaurants and delivering it. It was argued at the time that through the network effect of having more delivery drivers, the price of delivery would go down – that has not been the case, with the cost of delivery on these apps typically much higher than it was five years ago.
Just Eat, Grubhub and these other aggregators followed a few years later with their own delivery operations, although due to a slow start they have both lost market share in the US and Europe.
Consolidation in the market in 2018 and 2019 led to DoorDash, Uber Eats and Grubhub being the three main food delivery services in the US. Similar consolidation happened in Europe with the Just Eat and Takeaway.com merger and several acquisitions happened in Asia-Pacific to reduce options to two or three.
COVID-19 propelled the industry a few years into the future, as millions of people in lockdown ordered food online for the first time. Grocery delivery service Instacart said it achieved its 2022 full year goals in the third week of lockdown. Uber Eats, Deliveroo and DoorDash all reported a massive acceleration in orders between February and March, as the world went into lockdown.
This surge in demand has cooled off since, but DoorDash, Uber Eats and Deliveroo have all seen revenues grow since. Others, such as Just Eat, have stagnated since 2020.
In 2022, several rapid grocery delivery services launched in Europe and the US. Getir, a Turkish-based delivery service, was the leader in this market, which saw huge amounts of money invested into it by venture capital. Getir closed operations in Europe in 2024, after a heavy decline in usage.
It’s not clear where food delivery goes from here. Uber, DoorDash and Meituan all appear to have profitable businesses, but Deliveroo, Just Eat and Delivery Hero are all struggling to be both profitable and growing. More consolidation may be on the cards.
We have collected data and statistics on the food delivery app market. Read on below to find out more. Want to dive deeper into the food delivery app industry? Check out our +100 page report
Key Food Delivery Statistics
- China is the largest market for food delivery, with a market size of $46.6 billion in 2023. Meituan and Ele.me control about 90% of all food delivery in the country
- The entire food delivery app industry is expected to reach $213 billion market size by 2030
- Uber Eats is the most popular food delivery app, Delivery Hero has the most collective users
- In the US, DoorDash is the most popular food delivery app, with over 50% market share
Want to learn more about the food delivery app industry? Our Food Delivery App report includes breakdowns of all of the top apps by revenue, GMV and orders, alongside regional market share statistics, usage, and downloads. Food Delivery App Report 2024
Top Food Delivery Apps
Title | Description | |
---|---|---|
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/uber-eats-statistics/ | Uber Eats | The most widely available food delivery service with activity in six continents |
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/just-eat-statistics/ | Just Eat | Leader of food delivery in the UK and active in Europe and Australia |
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/doordash-statistics/ | DoorDash | Current leader in online food delivery in the US, which also pioneered the platform-to-consumer model |
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/deliveroo-statistics/ | Deliveroo | Pioneer of platform-to-consumer service in the UK, now operates in 13 countries |
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/grubhub-statistics/ | Grubhub | Original takeaway aggregator in America with a large userbase in New York City |
https://www.businessofapps.com/data/postmates-statistics/ | Postmates | A subsidiary of Uber Eats since 2019, responsible for about five percent of deliveries in US |
http://takeaway.com/ | Takeaway.com | A European aggregator responsible for most online food delivery in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium |
https://www.deliveryhero.com/brands-countries/ | Delivery Hero | Through its many subsidiaries, Delivery Hero has a controlling interest in food delivery platforms in over 40 countries |
https://www.ele.me/ | Ele.me | Alibaba owned food delivery app which is second place in the Chinese market |
https://about.meituan.com/en | Meituan | Largest food delivery service by revenue, volume, and usage with over 600 million users |
https://about.rappi.com/ | Rappi | A contender in the South American market with activity in nine countries |
https://www.ifood.com.br/ | iFood | Brazil's most popular aggregator by a significant margin, accounting for over 70 percent of takeaway orders in the country |
https://www.zomato.com/ | Zomato | Most popular of the homegrown food delivery apps in India, which acquired Uber Eats India in January 2020 |
Food Delivery Revenue by Country
China is ahead in total revenue for food delivery, at $46.6 billion in 2023. Meituan contributed to $38 billion of that revenue, as the largest food delivery app in the world by revenue and usage.
Food delivery revenue by country 2023 ($bn)
Projected Food Delivery Market Size
The food delivery industry is expected to grow to $213 billion by 2030. It saw its largest growth in five years in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Projected food delivery market size 2024 to 2030 ($bn)
Food Delivery Users by App
Delivery Hero, through its subsidiary brands which include foodpanda, Glovo, PedidosYa, tabalat and Beamin, has the most active users. Uber Eats has the highest single app users, outside of China.
Food delivery users by app 2023 (mm)
US Food Delivery Market Share
DoorDash pulled ahead of the competition in 2020 and currently has 67 percent of market share in the United States, the second largest market for food delivery.
US food delivery market share 2016 to 2023 (%)
Food Delivery Downloads by App
Chinese food delivery app Ele.me was downloaded the most in 2023, followed by Delivery Hero’s portfolio of apps.
Food delivery app downloads 2023 (mm)
More Delivery App Data
- Grubhub Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- DoorDash Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Uber Eats Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Postmates Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Instacart Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Gorillas Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Getir Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Just Eat Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- GoPuff Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)
- Deliveroo Revenue and Usage Statistics (2024)