The number of generative artificial intelligence (AI) app users in South Korea has nearly doubled in one year, establishing the technology as an essential part of daily life.
According to data released Wednesday by WiseApp·Retail, an app and payment data analytics firm, 86.8% of Korean smartphone users — 44.47 million people — had at least one generative AI app installed as of February this year. That figure surged 40.1 percentage points from the same period last year, when the rate stood at 46.7%.
Actual usage rates also jumped significantly. The share of users actively using generative AI apps reached 48.7%, or 24.94 million people, up 26.4 percentage points from 22.3% a year earlier. In other words, five out of every 10 smartphone users now actively use generative AI.
Usage intensity is also rising rapidly. Average time spent per user reached 2 hours and 15 minutes in February, a 41% increase from 1 hour and 36 minutes in the same month last year. The average number of app launches per user also surged 64% to 67.4 times, up from 41.0 times a year earlier. Analysts say generative AI has moved beyond simple experimentation into the stage of everyday use.
ChatGPT recorded an overwhelming lead in user numbers by app, with 22.93 million users. It was followed by Grok AI with 1.53 million, Perplexity with 1.52 million, and Wrtn with 1.35 million. Google Gemini had a relatively modest 440,000 users, but its influence is expanding rapidly when usage time within the Google app is included. Total usage time for the Google app more than tripled year-on-year.
Usage patterns also diverged clearly by age group. Users in their 20s showed a higher preference for ChatGPT and Claude, while those in their 30s used Perplexity and Gemini relatively more. Users in their 40s favored Grok AI and Wrtn, while those in their 50s showed higher usage of A.dot (SKT's AI assistant).
Over the most recent six months, ChatGPT and Grok AI both exceeded 60 monthly average app launches, demonstrating strong user loyalty.
Generative AI apps are rapidly establishing themselves as a core service in the mobile ecosystem, with installation rates, active usage, and time spent all surging simultaneously over a short period.