One of the Android Market's biggest downsides has always been the inability to buy/sell apps in certain areas of the world. It looks like Google has been hard at work tackling this issue, though, as the reach of Android app purchases is extending to 99 more countries, for a total of 131.

This is probably some of the biggest Market-related news to come out of I/O this year, especially for citizens of the affected countries. Gone will be the days of users wishing they could get that paid-only app or developers having to set up a dedicated PayPal account and website just to make some revenue off of their hard work.

We don't really have any other details at this point, like which countries fall into this group or when the change is going to happen - but we'll make sure to keep you updated as we get more info.

Update: And here's Google's official, updated list of countries in which paid apps are available:

  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Aruba
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Belize
  • Benin
  • Bolivia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Cape Verde
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • Cote d' Ivore
  • Croatia
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • El Salvador
  • Estonia
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • France
  • Gabon
  • Germany
  • Ghana
  • Greece
  • Guatemala
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Hong Kong
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Ireland
  • Israel
  • Italy
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Macedonia
  • Malaysia
  • Mali
  • Malta
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Moldova
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Namibia
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • Netherlands Antilles
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Rwanda
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • South Africa
  • South Korea
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • Sweden
  • Switzerland
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Togo
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia
  • Turkmenistan
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Uruguay
  • Uzbekistan
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe