Podcasts have become a popular way to share and consume information. They offer a convenient way to learn new things and be entertained.
Many people listen to podcasts during their daily commutes or while doing chores. This makes it easy to fit learning into a busy schedule.
Podcasts cover a wide range of topics, from news and education to comedy and storytelling.
With that said, we have collected some important podcast statistics for 2024. Let’s take a look…
2024 Podcast Stats
Over 249.42 million Americans are podcast listeners, an increase of 1.65 million from the previous year. By 2027, this number is expected to reach 254.35 million.
The global podcast industry, with only around 570,000 podcasts in 2020, has expanded significantly to over 5 million podcasts by 2024, including 3.01 million active ones. Daily, new podcasts emerge, and over 4 million podcast episodes are updated.
504.9 million global podcast listeners are expected by 2024, following a 20.9% increase in listenership between 2019 and 2020, and a rise to 464.7 million listeners in 2023.
50% of Americans aged 12 to 34 reported listening to a podcast in the previous month, while 43% of those aged 35-54 did the same. The frequency of podcast listening in this age group nearly doubled from 2017 to 2021.
Over 150 million podcast episodes exist. 44% of podcasts have fewer than three episodes, and about 720,000 podcasts have over 10 episodes. With an average of 50 episodes per podcast, the total number of episodes reaches 150 million by 2024.
Today around 350,000 podcasts from the UK are currently in circulation.
In 2024, the podcast industry revenue in the United States is expected to hit $3 billion. From just $105.7 million in 2015, the revenue has seen significant growth. The average annual growth rate of podcast ad revenue from 2015 to 2025 is 45.3%, with projections reaching $4 billion by 2025.
The audio podcasting market in the United States is projected to double by 2024, reaching $4 billion, up from $2 billion in 2023.
In 2019, “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast earned $30 million, making it the highest-earning podcast. The show, running for 14 years, makes an average of $800,000 per episode. “The Joe Rogan Experience” was the most listened-to podcast in both the third and fourth quarters of 2022, as reported by Edison Metrics. Combining earnings from YouTube and Spotify, the JRE made around $30 million in 2019.
38% of adult podcast listeners listen to podcasts while driving.
Over 1.94 million podcasts are in English, making it the most popular podcast language, while Spanish ranks second with 220k podcasts.
There are over 4.25 million podcasts registered worldwide, with Apple Podcasts hosting over 2.6 million of these and more than 87.6 million episodes available for download.
47% of podcast listeners are from Sweden, making it the country with the highest percentage of listeners in a survey of 54 countries. Ireland and Brazil follow with 40% each, while the United States and the United Kingdom have 34% and 31%, respectively.
In 2023, Apple Podcasts hosts over 2.55 million podcasts.
South Korea has the highest number of podcast listeners globally, followed by Spain, Ireland, Sweden, and the United States in the top five.
The global podcast advertising revenue is forecasted to hit $4.02 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.95% from 2024 to 2028, reaching $5.26 billion by the end of 2028.
Brazil leads in podcast consumption in 2022, followed by Sweden and Mexico, while the U.S. does not have the highest growth or listenership. North America and the Asia Pacific regions have the highest number of avid podcast listeners. In South Korea, 58% of adults are monthly podcast listeners. Podcast engagement continues to increase globally every year.
Approximately 32% of podcast episodes are between 20 and 40 minutes long.
Spotify’s Podcast Subscription service boasts approximately 345 million monthly active users.
In June 2023, iHeartPodcasts led the podcast streaming platforms with 377.24 million streams, followed by Wondery with 176.23 million.
In 2021, 82 million people in the U.S. listened to podcasts.
Only 17% of podcasters create video clips and recordings of their episodes.
Society & culture podcasts account for 13.75% and education podcasts for 12.49%, together constituting 26.24% of total podcasts.
iHeartRadio holds the position as the top podcast publisher.
Spotify has invested $600 million in podcast-related acquisitions and hosts over 5 million podcast titles, positioning itself as a major player in the industry. In February 2020, Spotify purchased The Ringer for $196 million, part of its strategy to expand its influence in the podcasting sector.
The global podcasting market, valued at $21.4 billion in 2022, is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.8%, reaching $34.89 billion in 2024 and $133.9 billion by 2032.
In 2024, the value of AI-powered podcasting will reach $3 billion.
Podcasts are available in over 100 languages, becoming increasingly diverse, with English podcasts dominating at 60.38%.
460,080 active podcasts are currently on Apple Podcasts as of October 2023, with nearly half having three or fewer episodes.
Spotify hosts more than 4.7 million podcasts, outperforming Apple’s 2.5 million as of January 2023, with the Podcast Index revealing an estimated 4,216,180 podcast episodes available online.
42% of Americans aged 12 and older listened to a podcast in the past month as of 2023, maintaining a consistent trend from 2020’s 37%.
Achieving more than 32 downloads in the first week of a new episode ranks a podcaster in the top 50%.
31% of all podcast episodes are between 20-40 minutes in length.
In 2019, 93% of podcast listeners stayed for the full episode, while 80% consistently finished every episode they started, and the average listener enjoyed 7 shows per week.
In 2018, there were just over 500,000 active podcasts worldwide, and this number has increased to over 2 million, highlighting the medium’s growing popularity.
In the U.S., podcast advertising revenue is expected to surpass $2.3 billion in 2023, with marketers willing to invest in ads placed thoughtfully within podcasts. They anticipate spending $2.3 billion in 2023, with sponsorships occurring either on an episode-by-episode basis or for an entire season.
22% of U.S. podcast listeners prefer comedy, making it the most popular genre over news, true crime, and sports.
In 2022, Brazil was ranked first in podcast consumption, with Sweden and Mexico coming in second and third, respectively.
38.7% of all podcast listeners use Apple Podcasts as their number one choice, resulting in 48,789,778 podcast downloads as of February 2023.
In the U.S., 41% of podcast listeners are non-white.
Listeners in the U.S. are projected to increase from 75.9 million to 100 million by 2024.
67% of podcast listeners use smartphones as their preferred device.
58% of South Korean adults listen to podcasts monthly.
Nearly 2.5 million podcasts are listed in Apple Podcasts.
Spotify is the second most popular platform for podcast users, with a 28% user share.
48% of people stopped listening to podcasts due to lack of interest.
There are approximately 450,000 active podcasts.
49% of Italians aged 18+ listened to a podcast in the last year.
74% of people who listen to podcasts do so to learn new things.
Over 71,000,000 episodes are present in podcast feeds.
92% of individuals prefer listening to podcasts by themselves.
82.4% of podcast listeners dedicate more than 7 hours each week to listening on their preferred podcast app.
Podcast listeners have a 68% higher likelihood of holding a postgraduate degree.
In 2022, 62% of Americans aged 12 and over listened to a podcast, an increase from 57% in 2021.
Only 17% of podcasters record videos of their episodes.
By 2024, podcast advertising revenue is expected to reach $4 billion.
As of February 2021, there are over 1,750,000 podcasts and over 43 million episodes.
70% of Gen Z and Millennials listen to podcasts.
39% of individuals who own smart speakers listen to podcasts at least once a week.
26% of podcast listeners speed up the playback while listening.
Over 50% of podcast listeners listen at places other than their homes.
67% of listeners complete the podcast from beginning to end.
39% of small and medium-sized business owners use podcasts.
Nearly half (46%) of individuals aged 13-35 are comfortable with brands using podcasts to advertise their products.
51% of individuals who listen to podcasts bi-weekly have bought a product after listening to a sponsored ad on a podcast.
In the U.S., 53% of podcast listeners are male and 46% are female.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed this list of podcast statistics.
We have also compiled the list of following statistics that might be useful for you to explore:
We frequently regularly update this list of statistics. Don’t hesitate to revisit this page later to find the latest data points.
Now I’d like to hear from you:
Which stat from this list surprised you the most? Or have a question?
Either way, please jump in and leave a comment below.
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