Back in 2006, only 22 percent of the adult population in the United States was aware of podcasting.
By 2021, this figure had risen to 78 percent and the number of people hosting their podcast is on the rise. This has a trickle-down effect as the sales of podcast mics will hit 7 million units in 2021.
Podcasting is an increasingly popular pastime in the U.S. and is quickly picking up the pace all over the world.
Forecasts suggest that the number of podcast listeners will surpass 160 million in 2023 after increases of around 20 million each year.
2021 podcast statistics from Edison Research and Triton Digital were recently released as part of the annual study: The Infinite Dial.
Quick Podcast Statistics
Total Number of Active Podcasts:
2,000,000+ (Source)
Total Number of Episodes:
48 million (Source)
Total Number of Languages that Podcasts Exist in:
More than 100 (Source)
Top Popular Genres of Podcasts Are:
Comedy, News, Society & Culture, Sports, True Crime (Source)
The Leading Podcast Publisher Worldwide
iHeartRadio with 266.06 million streams (Source)
U.S. Podcast Demographics
- 57% of the US population have listened to a podcast.
- 78% of the US population has heard of the term “podcasting”.
- 41% of the US population listens to a podcast at least a month.
- 43% of US men have listened to a podcast.
- Only 39% of US women have listened to podcasts.
- 30% of women podcast listeners are non-white.
- The age bracket with the highest number of podcast listeners is 12-34 at 56%.
- Podcast listeners aged 35-54 account for 39% of total listenership while those aged 55+ account for 26%.
- 43% of podcast listeners in the US are non-white
- 28% of the total US population are weekly podcast listeners
- Spotify listeners were 53%.
- US weekly podcast listeners average eight podcasts.
- Podcast listeners are 68% more likely to be postgraduates.
- According to an Edison Research survey, only 41% of respondents reported their income level. The majority of them have a household income level of $100k-$150k.
- Twelve percent of the monthly American podcast listeners have an income level of $75k-$100k.
- Fifty-one percent of monthly American podcast listeners are full-time employed.
- Growing number of podcast fans are now looking for video and not just the audio. However, only 17% of the publishers record video.
International Podcast Demographics
- 63% of the Canadian population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
- 87% of the Australian population is familiar with the term “podcasting”
- 30% of the Australian population has listened to a podcast
- As of 2020, 18% of adults in the U.K. listened to podcasts every week, 4% more likely than in 2019.
- Podcasting is growing fastest in the following countries: Chile (83.9%), Argentina (55.3%), Peru (49.1%), Mexico (47.8%), and China (43.6%).
- According to Statista Global Consumer Survey, Sweden tops the podcast consumption chart.
- China has the 5th highest podcast consumption growth with 43.62%.
- Covid pandemic has produced a natural growth in the podcast listening trend. The global usage is up by 42%.
Podcast Audience & Usage Statistics
- One-fourth of podcast listeners consume podcast content while driving.
- As of July 2021, Spotify is the leading podcast app taking up 30.6% of the total listenership and with over 23.6 million downloads.
- Apple Podcasts and Google podcasts come in second and third places with 20.9 million and 2.2 million downloads respectively.
- 22% of podcast listeners in the United States prefer comedy as a genre, making it the most popular podcast genre.
- Podcasts lasting 20 – 40 minutes are more popular taking up 31% of the total.
- The least popular podcasts are those that last not more than 10 minutes and only account for 13% of the total.
- 52.6% of listeners find new podcasts by searching a podcast directory like Apple Podcasts.
- Podcast hosting is performed by various podcast platforms that allow publishers to store MP3 files and share RSS feed links for podcast episodes. Buzzsprout, Captivate, Transistor are some of the popular podcast hosting platforms.
- Growing number of podcasts are focused towards individuals pursuing a college degree. A study found that students preferred podcasts over textbooks for study purposes.
Podcast Listener Statistics
- 56% of podcast listeners are male, while 44% are female.
- Podcasts embody 10% off all content that millennials listen to.
- It is 68% more likely for a podcast listener to have a postgraduate degree.
- 59% of people listening to podcasts are white.
- 65% of podcast consumers are most likely to listen to episodes on a mobile device.
- 39% of smart-speaker owners listen to podcasts at least once a week.
- Around 26% of podcast listeners increase the speed of podcasts while listening.
- 52% of podcast subscribers listen to entire episodes.
- 90% of consumers prefer to listen to podcasts at home.
- 64% of podcast listeners prefer to do so while on the road.
- 59% listen to podcasts when doing housework or chores.
- Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts are the top podcast listening apps. They also provide vital podcast stats, like podcast download, in a step-by-step manner.
Podcast User Statistics
- The majority of consumers (65%) use a smartphone/tablet/portable device, followed by those that use a computer/laptop (25%), while 10% use a smart speaker.
- 90% of podcasts are listened to at home, 64% in a car or truck, 49% while walking around/on foot, 43% at a gym/while working out, 37% at work, 37% while riding public transportation.
- 74% of people listen to podcasts to learn new things, 71% to be entertained, 60% to stay up-to-date, 51% to relax, 47% to feel inspired.
- Over half (52%) of US consumers who listen to the online monthly podcasts, listen to the entire episode, while 41% listen to most of it, 5% listen to under half of it, and 2% only listen to the beginning.
- The five major players in the podcasting software industry are Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Overcast, and Google Podcasts, with a market share of 52%, 19%, 5%, 1.4%, and 0.09%, respectively.
- While 81% of the US population remains active on at least one social media platform, about 94% of podcast listeners in the country do the same.
- Google Home allows users to play podcasts using Google Nest speakers. Similarly, users can stream over 250000 podcasts and associated different shows from their favorite stations on Apple itunes.
Podcast Advertising Business
- 60% of podcast listeners have bought something from a podcast ad.
- More than half of US podcast listeners pay attention to the ads.
- Businesses are expected to spend an estimated $1.33 billion in podcast ads in 2021
- 39% of small and medium-sized businesses owners are podcast users.
Check Out: Elearning Statistics for 2024
Fun Facts
- By 2021, the global podcasting ad revenue is projected to reach $1.36 billion (from the Revenue Stream graph).
- The PwC report provided the compound annual growth rate of the music, radio, and podcast industry to be about 3% between 2018 and 2023.
- Podcast listeners in the United States are “hyper-engaged, super-supportive audiences.”
- On average podcast listeners spend 5 hours 39 minutes per day listening to audio.
- 51% of non podcast listeners said that they just don’t have enough time.
- Monthly podcast consumers grew by 16% year-over-year, cresting 100 million Americans for the first time.
- Approximately 169 million Americans listened to online audio in the last week, spending an average of over 15 hours doing so.
- When it comes to publishers, National Public Radio (NPR) is one of the leaders in the United States, normally drawing in a unique monthly audience of over 20 million listeners.
- In 2020, a survey on podcast consumption revealed that 37% of Americans listen to a podcast within the last month, a figure which has more than tripled over the past decade.
- Pandora and Spotify are tied among Americans 12+ for monthly users, while Amazon music has become a strong third, buoyed by smart speaker owners.
- Twitter was launched because of a failed podcasting company.
- South Korea is the country where podcasting is the most popular.
- Even retail behemoth Amazon is intending to get involved in the podcast industry, paving the way for disruptions and competition in the market.
Photo Credit: Unsplash
