Number of Podcast Listeners (2024)
The podcast sector is growing year after year.
In fact, podcasting is now a multi-billion dollar industry. And millions listen every week.
Below, we’ll dive into the data surrounding the expanding podcasting space, specifically looking at how many people listen to podcasts.
Contents
- Podcast Listeners (Key Statistics)
- Number Of Podcast Listeners
- Podcast Listeners By Region
- US Podcast Listeners
- US Podcast Listener Preferences
- Podcast Platform Usage
- In-Car Podcast Listening
- Podcast Listeners Demographics
Podcast Listeners (Key Statistics)
- There are over 500 million podcast listeners
- Around 1 in 4 internet users listen to podcasts
- There are an estimated 4.3 million podcasts
- Almost half of Sweden (47%) listen to podcasts
- There are well over 100 million US podcast listeners
- The average American tunes in to 8 podcasts per week
- Spotify and Apple Music have over 60 million combined US-based podcast listeners
- Half of US 12 to 34-year-olds listen to podcasts
Number of Podcast Listeners
According to the latest available data, there are 504.9 million worldwide podcast listeners. That equates to 23.5% of all internet users.
The number of people who listen to podcasts has increased by over 40 million in the last year.
Here’s a look at projected podcast listener growth through 2024:
| Year | Podcast Listeners | Change Over Previous Year | Percentage of Internet Users |
| 2019 | 274.8 million | ↑ 22.6% | 14.4% |
| 2020 | 332.2 million | ↑ 20.9% | 16.5% |
| 2021 | 383.7 million | ↑ 15.5% | 18.7% |
| 2022 (projected) | 424.2 million | ↑ 10.6% | 20.3% |
| 2023(projected) | 464.7 million | ↑ 9.6% | 22% |
| 2024(projected) | 504.9 million | ↑ 8.6% | 23.5% |
Sources: eMarketer, PodcastIndex
Podcast Listeners by Region
According to Statista data, Sweden has the largest share of podcast listeners (47%) from 54 surveyed nations.
Brazil and the Republic of Ireland are the only other surveyed nations exceeding a 40% listenership.
While, the US (34%), the UK (31%), Canada, and Australia all fell between 30-39%.
Germany, Russia, South Africa, and India each reported between 20-29%.
Belgium, Morocco, Pakistan, and China (19%) are the only surveyed nations with 10-19% of the population listening to podcasts.
And in Japan, just 5% of the population listens to podcasts.
Source: Statista
US Podcast Listeners
In total, 38% of Americans have listened to a podcast within the last month. And 26% have listened in the last week.
The number of US podcast listeners has increased year-over-year since 2013, reaching an estimated 140 million.
That figure is expected to grow further to 163 million in 2023.
Here’s a look at the growing podcast audience in the US over time:
| Year | Monthly US Listeners | Increase Over Previous Year |
| 2013 | 32 million | - |
| 2014 | 40 million | 8 million |
| 2015 | 46 million | 6 million |
| 2016 | 57 million | 11 million |
| 2017 | 65 million | 8 million |
| 2018 | 75 million | 10 million |
| 2019* | 88 million | 13 million |
| 2020* | 103 million | 15 million |
| 2021* | 120 million | 17 million |
| 2022* | 140 million | 20 million |
| 2023* | 164 million | 24 million |
*Projected figure
And here’s a look at the proportion of Americans listening to podcasts on a weekly basis over time:
| Year | Proportion of Weekly Listeners | Change Over Previous Year |
| 2013 | 7% | - |
| 2014 | 8% | ↑ 1% |
| 2015 | 10% | ↑ 2% |
| 2016 | 13% | ↑ 3% |
| 2017 | 15% | ↑ 2% |
| 2018 | 17% | ↑ 2% |
| 2019 | 22% | ↑ 5% |
| 2020 | 24% | ↑ 2% |
| 2021 | 28% | ↑ 4% |
| 2022 | 26% | ↓ 2% |
Podcasting has come a long way in a relatively short period of time. Awareness of the medium has rocketed in the US during the last decade and a half.
In fact, as of 2016, the majority of US consumers (55%) were aware of podcasts. That’s more than double the figure (22%) 10 years earlier.
Today, around 4 in 5 (79%) Americans are aware of podcasts.
This is how awareness of podcasting has changed over time in the US:
| Year | Percentage Aware | Change Over Previous Year | Percentage Who Have Ever Listened | Change Over Previous Year |
| 2006 | 22% | - | 11% | - |
| 2007 | 37% | ↑ 15% | 13% | ↑ 2% |
| 2008 | 37% | - 0% | 18% | ↑ 6% |
| 2009 | 43% | ↑ 6% | 22% | ↑ 4% |
| 2010 | 45% | ↑ 2% | 23% | ↑ 1% |
| 2011 | 45% | - 0% | 25% | ↑ 2% |
| 2012 | 46% | ↑ 1% | 29% | ↑ 4% |
| 2013 | 46% | - 0% | 27% | ↓ 2% |
| 2014 | 48% | ↑ 2% | 30% | ↑ 3% |
| 2015 | 49% | ↑ 1% | 33% | ↑ 3% |
| 2016 | 55% | ↑ 6% | 36% | ↑ 3% |
| 2017 | 60% | ↑ 5% | 40% | ↑ 4% |
| 2018 | 64% | ↑ 4% | 44% | ↑ 4% |
| 2019 | 70% | ↑ 6% | 51% | ↑ 7% |
| 2020 | 75% | ↑ 5% | 55% | ↑ 4% |
| 2021 | 78% | ↑ 3% | 57% | ↑ 4% |
| 2022 | 79% | ↑ 1% | 62% | ↑ 5% |
Sources: Activate, Triton Digital, The Infinite Dial
US Podcast Listener Preferences
Podcast listeners have so many choices these days. There are now more than 4.3 million podcasts.
Here’s a breakdown of how often shows are being published (as of Jan 2024):
| Time Period | Number of Published Podcast Shows |
| Last 3 Days | 82,886 |
| Last 10 Days |
224,560
|
| Last 30 Days |
316,445
|
| Last 60 Days |
395,579
|
| Last 90 Days |
451,780
|
With so many choices, the average American gets through 8 podcast episodes every week.
Although, the number of episodes listened to per week is fairly evenly distributed among listeners:
| Number of Episodes Listened to in Last Week | Share of Podcast Listeners |
| 1 | 14% |
| 2 | 18% |
| 3 | 13% |
| 4 or 5 | 21% |
| 6 to 10 | 16% |
| 11+ | 18% |
Source: PodcastIndex, ThePodcastHost
Podcast Platform Usage
For many, Spotify and Apple Podcasts are the podcast platforms of choice.
In total, 1 in 4 podcast listeners use Spotify for podcast listening. While 1 in 5 use Apple Podcasts.
Here’s a breakdown of 2020’s top platforms by US listeners:
| Podcast Platform | Share of US Listeners |
| Spotify | 25% |
| Apple Podcasts | 20% |
| Google Podcasts | 16% |
| Pandora | 15% |
| Website (stream) | 11% |
| Audible | 10% |
| NPR One | 9% |
| Tune In | 8% |
| Deezer | 7% |
| Podcast Addict | 7% |
| Radio Public | 6% |
| Stitcher | 6% |
| Overcast | 6% |
| Pocket Casts | 6% |
| CastBox | 5% |
And as of February 2022, Spotify has 32.5 million US listeners. Compared to Apple’s 28.5 million.
By 2025, the gap is set to widen further as Spotify hits 42.4 million. And Apple steadily grows to 29.2 million.
Here’s a comparison between the two podcasting giants over time:
| Year | US Spotify Listeners | US Apple Podcast Listeners | Difference |
| 2020 | 19.9 million | 27.8 million | +7.9 million (Apple) |
| 2021 | 28.3 million | 28.1 million | +0.2 million (Spotify) |
| 2022 | 32.5 million | 28.5 million | +4 million (Spotify) |
| 2023 | 36.3 million | 28.8 million | +7.5 million (Spotify) |
| 2024 | 40 million | 29 million | +11 million (Spotify) |
| 2025 | 42.4 million | 29.2 million | +13.2 million (Spotify) |
As for podcast publishers, iHeartRadio is top of the tree with over 31 million unique US monthly listeners. That’s almost 50% more than second-placed Wondery (24.28 million).
Below are the top 10 podcast publishers by US unique monthly listeners (July 2023):
| Rank | Publisher | US Listeners | Global Streams | Active Shows |
| 1 | iHeartRadio | 29.82 million | 252.32 million | 870 |
| 2 | Wondery | 18.42 million | 112.86 million | 232 |
| 3 | NPR | 18.18 million | 129.19 million | 49 |
| 4 | New York Times | 8.75 million | 63.34 million | 12 |
| 5 | NBC News | 8.72 million | 51.32 million | 78 |
| 6 | The Walt Disney Company | 7.59 million | 35.68 million | 103 |
| 7 | DailyWire+ | 5.93 million | 50.1 million | 14 |
| 8 | Barstool Sports | 5.48 million | 23.11 million | 99 |
| 9 | Paramount | 4.9 million | 28.24 million | 87 |
| 10 | Vox Media | 6.19 million | 38.19 million | 61 |
Sources: PodTrac
In-Car Podcast Listening
In-car podcast listening is on the rise. Approximately 32% of 18+ year-olds listen to a podcast in a car each month. That’s risen from 28% in 2020 and 30% in 2021.
However, podcasting has a very long way to go if it is to catch up with traditional radio listening on car journeys.
Here’s the full data for car listening habits over time:
| Audio Source | 2020 Share | 2021 Share | 2022 Share | 2-Year Change |
| AM/FM Radio | 81% | 75% | 73% | ↓ 8% |
| Owned Digital Music | 48% | 48% | 53% | ↑ 5% |
| CD Player | 41% | 35% | 35% | ↓ 6% |
| Online Audio | 33% | 33% | 32% | ↓ 1% |
| Podcasts | 28% | 30% | 32% | ↑ 4% |
| SiriusXM | 24% | 21% | 22% | ↓ 2% |
Data from Q4 2021 shows that 20% of weekly podcast listeners do so while in a car. Yet that’s still almost 3x less than those who listen at home (59%).
The most common device for podcast listening is a smartphone (73%). That’s significantly higher than a desktop/laptop (13%).
In total, podcasts make up around 5% of all audio listening among US Americans.
Sources: eMarketer, Podtrac, The Infinite Dial
Podcast Listeners Demographics
Almost two-thirds (62%) of US 12+ year-olds have ever listened to a podcast. That accounts for around 177 million people.
More than half of those listeners tune in to a podcast each month. That’s 38% of the population - a slight increase from 37% in 2020.
However, more significant growth is evident in the 35-54 age bracket, in which 43% are now monthly listeners - up 4% since 2021.
But that figure still lags behind the 12 to 34-year-old’s 50% podcast listenership.
Here’s the recent data for share of US podcast listeners by age:
| Year | Age 12-34 Share | Age 35-54 Share | Age 55+ Share | Average Share |
| 2019 | 42% | 36% | 17% | 32% |
| 2020 | 49% | 40% | 22% | 37% |
| 2021 | 56% | 39% | 26% | 40% |
| 2022 | 50% | 43% | 22% | 38% |
| 4-Year Average | 49% | 40% | 22% | 37% |
Of all podcast listeners, almost half (47%) are aged 12-34 years. 33% are 35 to 54-year-olds. And the remaining 20% are aged 55+ years.
In terms of gender, men are more frequent podcast listeners, but not by much.
Here are the figures:
| Year | Share of Men | Share of Women | Difference |
| 2019 | 36% | 29% | +7% (Men) |
| 2020 | 39% | 36% | +3% (Men) |
| 2021 | 43% | 39% | +4% (Men) |
| 2022 | 41% | 36% | +5% (Men) |
Split by gender, the majority of podcast listeners are male (53%). Female listeners make up 46%. And non-binary/other account for 1%.
In terms of ethnicity, podcasting has become a great deal more diverse over the last decade. The ethnic makeup of podcast listeners in the US now closely mirrors the country’s population:
| Ethnicity | Share of Podcast Listeners | Share of US Population | ||
| 2012 | 2017 | 2022 | ||
| White | 68% | 66% | 59% | 59% |
| African-American | 14% | 12% | 16% | 14% |
| Hispanic | 10% | 11% | 16% | 17% |
| Asian | 3% | 4% | 3% | 3% |
| Other | 5% | 7% | 6% | 6% |
| Estimated Listeners | 36 million | 67 million | 109 million | |
Source: The Infinite Dial
Conclusion
Despite being decades old, the podcast medium continues to see consistent growth.
An ever-expanding audience, combined with a sea of growing podcasting options is a testament to this.
And the industry looks set to continue its expansion across different regions and demographics in the years ahead.
For more related data, take a look at 9 Podcast Trends to Follow and 25 Soaring Music Technology Startups.
