Apple's App Store tops 40 billion downloads with almost half in 2012 Image credit: Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images

Apple marks another highlight and first for the global tech company.

Apple announced that iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users have downloaded over 40 billion apps, with almost 20 billion in 2012 alone. In March, Apple reported that it had seen 25 billion downloads.

With over 500 million active accounts, Apple's App Store saw a record-breaking December with over 2 billion downloads during the month. Apple isn't announcing how many devices it sold that month, but with lots of people opening brand new iPhone 5s, iPad Minis and regular iPads during the holiday season sales likely spurred downloads. The App Store saw continued success within its app development community as 775,000 new apps were created and featured in the App Store for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users. As a result, app developers pulled in over $7 million by Apple.

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"It has been an incredible year for the iOS developer community," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, said in a statement. "We continue to invest in providing them with the best ecosystem so they can create the most innovative apps in the world."

According to Flurry, the holiday season saw huge growth in app downloads across all platforms. From Dec. 25 through Dec. 31, 1.76 billion iOS and Android apps were download. Just on Christmas Day, 328 million applications were downloaded on both platforms.

Breakdown Apple's App Store and users will see no shortage of areas and interests to browse from including 23 categories of news, sports, travel, entertainment and fitness apps.