Podcast listening is growing rapidly around the world. In the US, over 100 million people listen to podcasts monthly as of 2022. Popular podcast genres include comedy, news, and true crime. Most listeners are between the ages of 12-34. Podcast advertising is also growing as a major new revenue stream, with 60% of listeners having purchased something from a podcast ad. Projections estimate the number of podcast listeners in the US could reach over 100 million by 2024.
4. US podcast and revenue growth
2015 2016 2017 2018 2018 2019
$842,3m
$708,1m
$479,1m
$313,9m
$169,1m
$105,7m
Data: IAB/PwC Podcast Ad Revenue Studies
Total Market Estimate
5. Source: Chartable
Data as on 15 Dec 2020
0%
400%
800%
1200%
1600%
HI CN PT ID ES JP TK IT NL DE RU FR EN
190%
240%
240%
250%
250%
320%
350%
370%
680%
720%
780%
850%
1410%
The increase in new podcasts in each language, 2019-2020
New podcast growth by language in 2020
6. Podcast download on different platforms
Data: Buzzsprout platform stats, Jan 2022
Note: 48.5% of downloads were from the US
Apple data includes Apple Podcasts and
iTunes; does not include ‘AppleCoreMedia’
user agents
Other
30%
iHeartRadio
1%
Overcast
1%
Podcast Addicts
1%
CastBox
1%
Google Pocasts
3%
Spotify
31%
Apple Podcasts
33%
8. UK podcast consumption
Data: RAJAR MIDAS Winter 2021
1313 former RAJAR respondents, using
an online diary and questionnaire
Time
spent
listening
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021 68.000.000
59.101.000
55.565.000
39.026.000
30.249.000
26.697.000
3.000.000
Age
35-54
38%
25-34
25%
15-24
16%
55+
21%
Podcasts listened by different
age groups every week
Weekly
reach
Age
15+ 15-24 25-34 35-54 55+
11%
24%
30%
21%
20%
40%
60%
Male Female
Five
year
growth
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
15 16 17 18 19 20 2021
The number of people listening to
podcasts each week has grown
dramatically since 2015
94%
6%
Listen with somebody
Listen alone
Adults 15+ now listen
to 68 million hours of
podcasts every week
Of all podcast listening
is done while at home
Of listeners listen to
mostly all the episodes
they download
Of people don’t do
anything else while
listening to a podcast
Of all podcast listening
is done on a mobile
phone
50%
69%
16%
77%
11. BBC Sounds
Spotify
Apple Podcasts
Google podcasts
Catch-up Other news
publisher / broadcaster
0% 15% 30%
29%
6%
7%
14%
24%
Youtube podcasts
Apple podcasts
Spotify
Google podcasts
Pandora
NPR app or website
0% 15% 30%
9%
10%
14%
17%
22%
26% Youtube podcasts
Spotify
Apple podcasts
ABC app or website
Google Podcasts
Podcast Addict
0% 15% 30%
22%
8%
14%
23%
25%
26%
Spotify
Youtube podcasts
ARD Audiothek
Audible
Google Podcasts
Apple podcasts
0% 15% 30%
15%
8%
9%
10%
22%
29%
“What platform do you mainly use to listen to podcasts?”
Data: Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021
Base: “last month” podcast listeners in each
market (UK: 443; US: 733; DEU: 527; AUS: 632)
Methodology: online questionnaire, Jan/Feb 2021
12. Data: Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2021
Base: total sample in each market (around 2,000)
Methodology: online questionnaire, Jan/Feb 2021
(NLD Mar 21)
Ireland
Spain
Sweden
Norway
USA
Switzerland
Canada
Austria
Australia
Italy
Argentina
Finland
France
Singapore
Netherlands
Belgium
Germany
Japan
UK
0% 42%
22%
25%
25%
26%
28%
28%
28%
29%
29%
31%
31%
32%
33%
35%
37%
37%
37%
38%
41%
Podcast listening around the world
14. Data: ScientiaMobile MOVR Q3 2021
Calculated by mobile web usage
“Others”, 0.2% or less, not shown
Asia
North America
Europe
South America
Africa
Oceania
0% 100%
64%
79%
68%
59%
60%
67%
36%
21%
32%
41%
40%
33%
iPhone vs Android usage worldwide
15. Where are Spotify’s users?
Spotify monthly active users,
Financial Results, Q3 2021
22%
34%
21%
24%
North America
Rest of World
Europe
Latin America
16. Data: Czech Radio
0
160.000
320.000
480.000
640.000
800.000
2018/11 2018/12 2019/01 2019/02 2019/03 2019/04 2019/05 2019/06 2019/07 2019/08 2019/09 2019/10 2019/11 2019/12 2020/01 2020/02 2020/03 2020/04 2020/05
iPhone market share in Czechia 18.8% (Jun ’20)
How quickly did Spotify grow as a podcast platform in Czechia?
17. Podcasts are most popular use for headphones
Data: RAJAR MIDAS research, Winter 2021, UK
Podcasts
Audiobooks
Owned music
Spotify, Apple Music etc
Catch-up radio
Live radio
0% 60%
11%
29%
40%
45%
59%
59%
How many people listened to the following using headphones in the last week?
19. How popular are podcasts?
78%
22%
Other
Familiar with podcasts
Number of people that
are familiar with the
podcast medium in 2022
More Americans listen to
podcasts than have Netflix
accounts
28%
of Americans (80 mil) are
weekly podcast listeners
of the population listened
to a podcast in 2022
51%
of Americans listen to
podcasts regularly
104
M
Podcast listeners were
increased from 2018 to 2021
29,5
%
of Americans own a
smartphone
88%
116M
of Americans listened to a
podcast in the last month
22%
Smart speaker ownership
growth during the first year
of the pandemic
Each
week
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
20. Who listens to podcasts?
US Breakdown by ethnicity in 2021
Other
10%
African American
13%
White
57%
Hispanic
16%
Asian
4%
The United States accounts for
47.9% of podcast listeners,
followed by the United
Kingdom with 6,3% and
Canada with 5.0%
Source: Edison research, The Infinite Dial
22. U.S. podcast listener demographics
66 %
of podcast
fans are
people ages
12-34
of US women
listen to
podcasts
39 %
of podcast listeners have a college
degree and an average annual
household income of $75k or more
over
66 %
Female listenership reached an all-time high
66%
34%
Other
People ages 12-34
of US men
listen to
podcasts
43 %
43%
57%
Other
US men podcast listeners
43%
57%
Other
US women podcast listeners
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
23. International podcast statistics
58%
of adults in
South Korea
listen to
podcasts
every month
of adults in
the U.K.
listen to
podcasts
every week
18%
Canadians over
18 years listen
to podcasts
every month
9M
of adults
Canadians
have
listened to a
podcast in
the last year
38%
Canadian
listeners have
an annual
income of
$100k or more
28%
of Italians
between 18
and 34 have
listened to a
podcast in the
last year
over
50%
U.S. doesn’t hold the number one spot for growth or listenership
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
24. 0%
22,5%
45%
67,5%
90%
Chile Argentina Peru Mexico China
43,6%
47,8%
49,1%
55,3%
83,9%
Where is podcasting growing the fastest?
Source: Voxnest, 2019
Month over month growth
25. Where do people listen to podcasts?
62 %
of Americans have listened
to audio in a car using their
cell phone
of people ages 18+ own a
vehicle with a smart
entertainment system
18 %
of podcast listening
happens at home
49 %
of podcasters listen while
driving and commuting
22 %
of podcasters listen while
exercising
8 %
of podcasters listen while
exercising
11 %
Different ways people listen to content:
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
26. The Joe Rogan Experience
The Daily
Crime Junkie
This American Life
Stuff You Should Know
My Favorite Murder
Pod Save America
Serial
Office Ladies
Call Her Daddy
Produced by Joe Rogan
Produced by The New York Times
Produced by The New York Times
Produced by This American Life/Serial
Produced by HowStuffWorks Produced by Alex Cooper
Produced by This American Life/Serial
Produced by Earwolf
Produced by Exactly Right
Produced by Crooked Media
Source: Chartable, Podcast
Consumer Tracking Report
Top 10 most listened to podcasts
U.S. Listenership Q4 2020 - Q3 2021
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
27. Most popular podcast directories
Podcast platforms in order of popularity:
Apple iTunes
1%
Overcast
2%
Podcast Addicts
2%
Castbox
2%
Buzzsprout embed player
2%
Google Podcasts
3%
Web Browser
4%
Spotify
37%
Apple Podcasts
47%
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
28. Listener behavior & trends
Podcast stats that reveal trends relating to listeners’ daily habits
6
average
number of
shows a
podcast
listener
subscribes to
number of
different
shows a
podcast
listener
tunes in
per week
8
of listeners
listen to all or
most of every
podcast
episode they
start
80 %
of U.S. adults
listen to
podcasts
while
driving
28 %
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
29. The most popular podcast genres and shows
Comedy
News
True Crime
Sports
Health & Fitness
Religion & Faith
Politics
Self Help
Investigative Journalism
Finance 13%
13%
15%
16%
16%
17%
17%
18%
21%
22%
Source: Statista, October 2020
Share of weekly listeners in the U.S.
30. Average podcast episode length & frequency
60%
Less than 10 min 10 - 20 min 20 - 40 min 40 - 60 min Over 1 hour long
17%
22%
51%
15%
14%
Source: Buzzsprout Platform Statistics
Over 50% od podcast
episodes are between
20 and 60 min long
How long are podcast episodes?
31. Podcast discoverability
52,6 %
of listeners
find new
podcasts
by searching
a podcast
directory
(like Apple
Podcasts)
ask a friend
for podcast
recommen-
dations
22,1 %
get suggestions
from their
favorite
podcast host
14,5 %
search
Google
5,5 %
follow podcast
guests heard
on other show
3,5 %
ask for
suggestions
on social
media
1,7 %
Breakdown illustrating how listeners find new podcasts:
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
32. Podcast advertising trends & performance
60 %
of podcast listeners have bought
something from a podcast ad
of listeners who have listened to
a podcast for four or more years
have purchased a sponsored ad
72 %
of respondents say podcast ads
increase their awareness of
products, brands, and services
69 %
say they pay attention to ads more
than they do to radio, TV commercials,
or billboards, and even digital ads on
social media
81 %
These stats illustrate the efficacy of the medium as an advertising platform:
Ad revenue from podcasting is
expected to be this year
$2B
Source: Podcast Statistics and Data, March 2022
33. Advertising preferences
Source: Edison research, Super Listeners 2021
People who consume at least five hours of podcasts a week - survey
49 %
believe that
podcast hosts
use the
products/
services they
recommend
said they pay
more attention
to podcast ads
than other
media
51 %
49%
51%
Other
People that believe
said it is very
important to
them to limit
their exposure
to podcast
advertising
30 %
30%
70%
Other
People that want limitation
51%
49%
Other
Pay more attention to podcast ads
Super listeners are harder to reach through traditional advertising
methods, but are more responsive to the right type of ad messaging
34. Podcast growth projections
Source: Statistica
55
110
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
100,1 M
94,7 M
88,9 M
82,7 M
75,9 M
68,4 M
58,4 M
46,1 M
Current estimates project
that listeners in the U.S.
could increase from 75,9 mil
to 100 mil listeners in the U.S.
by 2024
Millions of podcast listeners in the U.S.
