A podcast is a collection or series of digital audio recordings that may be downloaded or listened to through the Internet. Its adoption continues to grow globally. Will it fit into your overall marketing strategy? In the guide, we put together the key podcast statistics you need to know.
Table of Contents
- Where are podcasts listened to the most?
- Where is podcast adoption growing the fastest?
- Are Podcasts growing in popularity?
- How much of the population listens to podcast?
- Podcast Statistics in US (North America)
- Podcast Statistics in Canada
- Podcast Statistics in Europe
- Podcast Statistics in Asia-Pacific (Excluding Australia)
- Podcast Statistics in China
- Podcast Statistics in Latin America
- Spotify Podcast Statistics
- Apple Podcast Statistics
- Podcast Advertising Statistics
- Is Podcast Advertising Effective?
- What types of podcasts topics are most popular?
- What are good Podcast statistics and benchmarks?
- How much can you make with Podcasting?
- Conclusion
Where are podcasts listened to the most?
North America and Northern Europe are the most popular podcast listeners.
The United States leads the globe in podcast listenership in all categories. In 2021, 117.8 million people in the United States listens to podcasts on a monthly basis, accounting for 40.0 percent of all internet users.
Sweden ranks second in terms of podcast penetration, with 34.6 percent of internet users planning to listen to podcasts this year. In Norway, Australia, Canada, and Spain, adoption will be prevalent. Due to their large populations, China and Brazil will rank second and third in overall podcast listeners (85.6 million and 39.2 million people, respectively).
| Podcast Listeners by Countries | Percentage of internet users |
| US | 40.00% |
| Sweden | 34.60% |
| Norway | 34.20% |
| Australia | 33.20% |
| Canada | 32.80% |
| Spain | 30.00% |
| Denmark | 28.40% |
| UK | 27.90% |
| Finland | 27.60% |
| Mexico | 25.80% |
| Italy | 25.00% |
| Brazil | 24.50% |
| Germany | 24.40% |
| France | 22.90% |
| Argentina | 19.20% |
| South Korea | 12.20% |
| Japan | 11.80% |
| China | 8.70% |
| Total Europe | 26.30% |
| Total North America | 39.20% |
| Total | 18.70% |
Podcasts, like many other forms of entertainment, are becoming increasingly international. Podcasts, unlike movies, television, sports, and music, are difficult to enjoy if the listener does not understand the content creator’s native language. This reality is influencing the growth of podcast audiences around the world.
Countries with largely English-speaking populations have embraced podcasts the most, led by the United States.
In terms of both content development and listener uptake, the United States leads the world in podcasting.
English speakers around the world have access to a larger collection of podcast content created in the United States than non-English speakers. As a result, podcast uptake becomes easier in countries with a high degree of English proficiency.
The United States also has the biggest percentage of internet users who listen to podcasts.
This year, 40.0 percent of internet users in the United States will listen to podcasts at least once a month. The Nordic countries, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, all of which have considerable populations of competent or proficient English speakers, also rank highly in this category.
Podcast adoption is lower in nations with native languages that are not widely spoken in other key markets. To create an appealing podcasting ecosystem for the typical consumer, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and Italy rely heavily on local creators. So far, these countries have a smaller number of podcast listeners.
Notably, Spanish is rapidly approaching the status of second worldwide language for podcasting.
Over the next few years, Spanish-language podcasting will grow in line with podcast penetration among Spanish-speaking populations. In 2021, among nations with weak English proficiency, Spain will have the greatest podcast penetration rate (30.0 percent of internet users), but Mexico will have a higher rate (25.8% of internet users) than much of Europe.
Similar patterns emerge among digital audio listeners in particular. When it comes to consumers who listen to digital audio, podcasts are disproportionately popular in areas where English or Spanish is widely spoken. Podcast listenership is behind in other parts of the world, even where digital audio has become highly popular.
Take, for example, China:
- This year, 72.9 percent of all internet users in the country will be monthly digital audio listeners, one of the highest percentages in the world.
- Despite this, just 12.4 percent of digital audio listeners will subscribe to a monthly podcast, the lowest rate of any country in our study.
Brazil, a major country with a sizable digital audio audience, exhibits a similar but less significant divergence:
- Over 70% of the online population will listen to digital audio at least once a month.
- However, just 34.9 percent of that group will listen to podcasts on a regular basis.
Nonetheless, China and Brazil have large enough populations to develop substantial podcast listener bases without the benefit of enormous worldwide archives of local-language content. Due to the sheer magnitude of their populations, both countries rank relatively high in terms of total listeners.
Where is podcast adoption growing the fastest?
Latin America will experience exceptional growth. This year, Brazil will boost its podcast listenership by 19.8%, Argentina by 17.9%, and Mexico by 13.6 percent. These three markets will outperform both North America and Europe in terms of average growth. China, on the other hand, will have the largest growth rate in 2021 (25.1 percent), owing to its historically low podcast penetration.
Podcast Adoption Worldwide in Percentage – 2019 to 2025
| Region | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Argentina | 21% | 25% | 18% | 11% | 11% | 6% | 4% |
| Australia | 21% | 15% | 15% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 3% |
| Brazil | 22% | 25% | 20% | 10% | 8% | 8% | 4% |
| Canada | 27% | 18% | 15% | 8% | 7% | 3% | 3% |
| China | 24% | 26% | 25% | 20% | 19% | 18% | 10% |
| Denmark | 20% | 11% | 8% | 5% | 3% | 4% | 3% |
| Finland | 15% | 14% | 8% | 5% | 4% | 2% | 2% |
| France | 32% | 19% | 16% | 13% | 8% | 5% | 4% |
| Germany | 21% | 23% | 10% | 10% | 9% | 4% | 4% |
| Italy | 19% | 21% | 15% | 9% | 6% | 4% | 4% |
| Japan | 22% | 24% | 11% | 10% | 9% | 6% | 4% |
| Mexico | 18% | 21% | 14% | 9% | 8% | 8% | 4% |
| Norway | 13% | 13% | 11% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 3% |
| South Korea | 20% | 22% | 14% | 10% | 9% | 6% | 4% |
| Spain | 20% | 20% | 16% | 8% | 7% | 5% | 3% |
| Sweden | 13% | 14% | 9% | 4% | 5% | 4% | 3% |
| UK | 27% | 30% | 16% | 10% | 7% | 6% | 4% |
| US | 23% | 17% | 10% | 6% | 5% | 5% | 4% |
Mexico, Argentina, and Spain, as well as Portuguese-speaking Brazil, are emerging as podcast listening hotspots as Spanish-language podcasting takes off. In China, listener growth is also strong, albeit from a low relative baseline.
In contrast, the countries with the most podcast engagement are, predictably, those with the slowest listener growth rates in the future. Because of the large number of internet users in regions like the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Nordic countries, a rapid inflow of new listeners is no longer viable.
China, which has the lowest penetration rate within our group, will see the same kind of dramatic rises that North America and northern Europe saw in 2019. For the same reasons, Brazil and Argentina are expected to have exceptional growth rates in 2021.
However, a few countries are reversing the trend in the opposite direction:
- Despite the fact that Canada and Spain are already well-established podcast markets, we expect a 14.9 percent rise in Canadian listeners and a 15.9 percent increase in Spanish listeners this year.
- On the other hand, Japan and South Korea are not well-represented in the market and are unlikely to experience significant listener growth.
Non-English-speaking countries will continue to lead in growth this year and in the future. Despite the fact that listeners in these nations are largely uninterested in the vast library of English-language shows accessible on the world’s largest digital platforms, local media are developing new ways to swiftly produce podcast content for their consumers.
In regions like France and Latin America, legacy TV and radio programmers have taken the lead in repurposing existing programming into podcasts.
The popularity of radio-replay (or “time-shifted”) episodes is attracting new listeners to podcasts by providing familiar flavors in local languages. While local podcasters—and global platforms—work to build up more original local-language content, these offers will help continental Europe and Latin America sustain robust podcast listener growth rates in the near term.
Are Podcasts growing in popularity?
Podcast Statistics Worldwide
Are podcast growing in popularity? Yes they are.
This year, the overall number of monthly podcast listeners in the 18 countries will rise by 15.5 percent to 383.7 million. The number of listeners will increase to 424.2 million next year.
Podcast Listeners and Audience by Age group
Ages 25 to 34 have the highest number of audiences/listeners at 29.5 million in the US alone. Ages 35 to 44 is the next largest cohort of podcast audiences with 22.6 million listeners.
18 to 24 age group has the highest penetration rate of over 65% in 2022. The next largest penetrated age group is 25 to 34.
Age group 25 to 34 has the largest podcast listener share, which doesn’t come as a surprise since they have the largest number of total podcast listeners.
If you’re targeting ages 25 to 44, podcast seems to be a viable channel for you to test.
Podcast Listeners by Gender
While there are 7% more males than females who listen to the podcast, the differences are quite negligible. Don’t focus your targeting by gender in podcasts. Instead focus on targeting the podcast with the right relevant content.
Podcast Listeners by Generations
Millenials use podcasts the most in the US, with almost 42.8 million in 2022 alone. Gen Z is close behind with 32%
How much of the population listens to podcast?
A total of 383.7 Million people listens to Podcasts. The most listeners are still in the largest countries. Countries with big populations has the most listeners.
Podcast Listeners in selected countries
| Region | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
| Argentina | 7,835,902 | 8,674,520 | 9,211,982 | 9,591,322 |
| Australia | 7,429,991 | 7,724,014 | 7,997,145 | 8,275,629 |
| Brazil | 42,918,665 | 46,426,766 | 50,296,716 | 52,432,294 |
| Canada | 12,039,438 | 12,859,057 | 13,292,428 | 13,705,930 |
| China | 102,374,682 | 121,686,437 | 143,650,589 | 158,552,235 |
| Denmark | 1,572,035 | 1,623,307 | 1,681,762 | 1,740,526 |
| Finland | 1,427,588 | 1,479,934 | 1,512,341 | 1,548,849 |
| France | 14,300,802 | 15,510,543 | 16,305,700 | 16,954,823 |
| Germany | 18,915,486 | 20,686,251 | 21,586,156 | 22,396,169 |
| Italy | 12,029,282 | 12,780,300 | 13,317,188 | 13,846,478 |
| Japan | 13,780,386 | 14,982,400 | 15,854,365 | 16,510,142 |
| Mexico | 22,785,015 | 24,529,002 | 26,442,714 | 27,629,763 |
| Norway | 1,738,015 | 1,789,049 | 1,854,773 | 1,915,646 |
| South Korea | 6,287,061 | 6,842,263 | 7,252,440 | 7,566,431 |
| Spain | 12,585,174 | 13,469,216 | 14,138,696 | 14,596,023 |
| Sweden | 3,247,612 | 3,403,195 | 3,532,712 | 3,653,962 |
| UK | 18,095,431 | 19,395,334 | 20,502,437 | 21,291,576 |
| US | 126,053,845 | 132,194,490 | 138,237,333 | 144,354,720 |
In total, 18 countries create a picture of the podcast industry that most likely reflects the global reality. When we add up our 18-country projections for this year, we get 383.7 million monthly listeners around the world, representing 18.7% of all internet users and a 15.5 percent growth over 2020.
According to conventional belief, the COVID-19 pandemic last year was a boom for podcast listening since people all across the world were trapped at home and had more time for digital engagement.
That seems to be accurate with 20.9 percent increase in monthly podcast listeners expected in 2020 across our 18 markets (although 2019 saw strong overall growth as well, at 22.6 percent ). However, growth is becoming increasingly disproportionate between countries.
Podcast Statistics in US (North America)
- In the United States, 40.0 percent of all internet users will listen to a podcast at least once per month by 2021.
- The United States will also have the most monthly podcast listeners, with 117.8 million, over 40 million more than the rest of Europe.
- For the first time in history, more than half of all digital audio listeners in the United States will also be podcast listeners this year.
- In 2021, 35.2 percent of Americans will listen to a podcast at least once a month. As recently as 2015, that figure was 14.3 percent.
Podcast Statistics in Canada
- By the end of 2022, Canada will have passed Australia and Norway to become the third-largest internet user country, after only the United States and Sweden.
- According to a February 2021 poll by Edison Research and Triton Digital, about 50% of adult podcast listeners in Canada consume podcast content produced domestically.
- In the latest podcast statistics by eMarketer: Nearly a third of Canadians (31.1 percent) will listen to a podcast at least once a month by the end of next year.
Podcast Statistics in Europe
- Germany will have an estimated total of 18.9 million podcast listeners in 2022
- United Kingdom (UK) will have an estimated total of 18.0 million podcast listeners in 2022
- Spain is far ahead of the other major European markets for podcast penetration rate, including the United Kingdom (27.9%), Italy (25.0%), Germany (24.4%), and France (24.4%). (22.9%).
- Spain’s strong adoption rate is at least partly due to the fact that its listeners have access to all Spanish-language podcast content produced in Latin America, which is continually expanding.
- Sweden and Norway, behind only the United States, will have the second and third highest podcast penetration rates in the world this year. They will be closely followed by Denmark and Finland.
- When we add up our nine country projections for Europe, we get a total of 76.6 million monthly podcast listeners in 2021. This represents a 13.5 percent increase from 2020.
- This European cohort grew its listenership by 21.7 percent year over year during the peak of the pandemic.
- Europe’s growth will lag the global average moving forward to 2025 because Several of Europe’s main markets are unable to access audio content in English.
Podcast Statistics in Asia-Pacific (Excluding Australia)
- The Asia-Pacific countries we forecast, with the exception of Australia, have by far the lowest rates of podcast listening.
- Only 8.7% of Chinese internet users will listen to podcasts on a monthly basis this year.
- These rates will be only 11.8 percent and 12.2 percent in Japan and South Korea, respectively.
- These three countries are at the very bottom of the worldwide ranking.
However, the situation in these three marketplaces will differ in the future. In the coming years, China is predicted to have exceptional growth rates for podcast listening, although growth in Japan and South Korea will be average, despite their low starting points.
According to the Reuters Institute, 40% of non-podcast listeners in Japan had no idea what podcasts were. Only 54.7 percent of internet users in Japan will utilize digital audio this year, according to our forecasts, the lowest rate of any of the nations in our sample.
It’s worth mentioning that many Asia-Pacific countries have non-music digital audio options, such as livestreaming, instructional programming, and audiobooks, which are sometimes quite popular. These services, though, are mostly in media that we wouldn’t consider podcasts.
The situation in Latin America is quite different. Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina have all adopted podcasts at similar rates as their European counterparts. This year, around a quarter of internet users in Brazil (24.5%) and Mexico (25.8%) will listen to monthly podcasts, while Argentina’s rate will lag somewhat. Their figures are comparable to those of France and Germany (22.9 percent and 24.4 percent , respectively).
Digital audio is very popular among Brazil’s online population. Internet users in that country are more likely than those in France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and even the United Kingdom to listen to digital audio on a monthly basis. This opens up a lot of possibilities for podcast uptake.
This year, Brazil, Mexico, and Argentina will together account for 67.2 million monthly podcast listeners, nearly matching our European total of 76.6 million.
Podcast Statistics in China
China will eventually overtake the United States in terms of podcast listeners, but its content will be different.
- China will eventually overtake the United States in terms of podcast listeners, but its content will be different.
Although China’s digital audio producers and consumers were late to the game, the domestic podcast sector has just begun to gather traction. Despite having one of the lowest rate of podcast adoption, China’s overall monthly listenership is fast increasing. And, with 72.9 percent of the country’s internet users listening to digital audio on a monthly basis this year, there’s a vast potential audience waiting to be cultivated.
- China will have the biggest podcast listenership in the world by the end of 2024, because to its vast magnitude and rapid rate of expansion.
- However, its penetration rate will remain exceedingly low.
- Even by 2024, only 13.8 percent of Chinese internet users, or 10.2 percent of the whole population, will be monthly podcast listeners. By that time, 40.0 percent of the US population will have been monthly podcast listeners.
Unfortunately, China’s podcast prospects are hampered by the country’s restrictions on free speech. News and politics are listed as one of the top podcast categories in the United States and the United Kingdom, according to YouGov data from November 2020. The fact that many people in these countries acquire their news through podcasts indicates that podcast listening has become ingrained in their culture.
Podcasters in China will have to navigate highly regulated news and information ecosystem, and the news category is unlikely to succeed in the country. Politics and social commentary are likewise heavily restricted in China, thereby eliminating at least two popular podcast genres in other markets.
Many English-speaking or English-proficient countries around the world, on the other hand, score extremely well in terms of national press freedom and freedom of speech, with the Nordic countries consistently ranking near the top.
- This type of culture is suited to podcasting, as our projections for podcast uptake in those nations show.
- Given China’s unique conditions, the country’s podcast business will likely focus on a smaller number of topics (comedy, music, lifestyle, etc.) and be fueled by fewer risk-averse amateur artists.
Many of China’s most popular podcasts have so far revolved around hobbies, life guidance, travel, and pet care.
Podcast Statistics in Latin America
- Brazil will have the world’s second-fastest growth rate in 2022, while Argentina will have the third-fastest.
- Mexico will also see a respectable growth of 13.6 percent.
In comparison to some of the other main Latin American markets, Mexico has a comparatively significant English-speaking population, which allows for a larger range of podcast listenership.
For the next three years, we expect all three Latin American countries to grow their monthly podcast listenership faster than both Europe and North America’s average growth rates. Argentina, on the other hand, will continue to lag behind the rest of the world in terms of podcast adoption.
Spotify Podcast Statistics
Spotify as currently has 3.2 million podcasts as of December 2021.
In the United States, Spotify is still growing its podcast audience, whereas Apple Podcasts has essentially plateaued. Spotify will have narrowly surpassed Apple in that category by end of 2021. The Swedish streaming service will have 28.2 million monthly podcast listeners, a razor-thin lead over Apple’s 28.0 million, which will widen in the coming years.
By 2024, 43.6 million internet users in the US will use Spotify to listen to Podcasts
Spotify Podcast Ad Revenues
Spotify is projecting grow their podcast ad revenues by 49.3% in 2023 at a total of 286.5M. It is undoubtedly one of the biggest growth channels for the company.
Apple Podcast Statistics
Apple Podcast is experiencing stagnating growth. They would likely hover around 29.4M listeners until 2026 assuming no major efforts to improve this.
Podcast Advertising Statistics
Podacst advertising revenue is expected to reach 3.2B by 2026 from 1.73B in 2022. Podcast would take up 36.20% of audio ad spending and 0.85% of total digital spending.
| Metric | Region | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | 2026 |
| Podcast ad spending | US | $1.3B | $1.7B | $2.1B | $2.5B | $2.9B | $3.2B |
| % change | US | 55.09% | 28.64% | 27.20% | 16.37% | 14.10% | 12.95% |
| % of digital audio services ad spending | US | 23.60% | 27.40% | 31.80% | 34.20% | 36.20% | 38.00% |
| % of total digital display ad spending | US | 1.13% | 1.20% | 1.33% | 1.36% | 1.42% | 1.50% |
| % of total digital ad spending | US | 0.64% | 0.69% | 0.77% | 0.81% | 0.85% | 0.91% |
Is Podcast Advertising Effective?
Podcast ads are the most memorable, according to the Super Listeners 2021 survey, with 86% of respondents recalling seeing or hearing one. Websites have 79%, while social media has 80%.
Podcast listeners also scored well in terms of ad engagement and reaction, with 76% reporting they’ve taken action after hearing a podcast ad, which may include visiting a website, purchasing something, or signing up for a subscription.
Only 12% of regular podcast listeners claimed they always ignore commercials, according to a recent poll. In fact, 33% of those polled claimed they “never or rarely” skip commercials, while 38% said they “just occasionally” do so.
Since 2019, there’s been a growing acknowledgment that podcast is one of the best ways to capture audiences’ attention.
Audiences are also more willing to consider products and services after learning about them through podcasts.
What’s surprising is that Podcast is rated as a more trustworthy source than social media and websites.
One of the key reasons for Podcast advertising effectiveness is because of its immersive experience. There are no distractions within a podcast. When someone tunes into a podcast show, they have the person’s attention.
Compare that with social media where it’s mindless scrolling and full of distracting headlines. Yes, the reach on social media is likely better, but podcast commands more attention and audience affinity.
Audiences report that typical channels like Television and Social Media have way too many ads. This decreases effectiveness. A big contribution to this overwhelming sense of ads is also due to low-quality ads on mainstream channels.
What types of podcasts topics are most popular?
Podcast topics such as Comedy are the most popular type of podcast now, according to 22% of respondents in a Statista poll regarding podcasts. News and true crime were also popular, with sports, health and fitness tied for fourth.
What are good Podcast statistics and benchmarks?
The average length of a Podcast
15% of podcasts are less than 10 minutes, 14% are 10 – 20 minutes, 31% are 20-40 minutes, 22% are 40-60 minutes, 17% are over 60 minutes. Podcast that are less than 10 minutes are also the least popular
How to measure the success of your Podcast?
One of the main ways to measure success is through the number of episode downloads in the first 7 days.
- The top 1% of podcasts has 4,202 downloads in the first 7 days
- Top 5% has 803 downloads in the first 7 days
- Top 10% has 335 downloads in the first 7 days
- Top 25% has 93 downloads in the first 7 days
- Top 50% has 30 downloads in the first 7 days
How much can you make with Podcasting?
You can likely charge around $20 for every 1,000 downloads. That would be $200 in ad revenue for every 10,000 downloads.
There are many other ways to make money with podcasting as well such as:
- Selling Online Courses
- Partnership affiliate
- Amazon affiliate
- Consulting services
- Speaking engagements
- Direct sponsorships
- Apple for creators Subscription program
Conclusion
The podcast statistics clearly show a huge potential for Podcasting, especially in English-speaking regions. There are also many ways to monetize this media channel. Spotify and Apple are the 2 key platforms that you need to be to distribute or monetize your content. If you’ve enjoyed this, check out the LinkedIn statistics compilation as well.
