Podcast Statistics, Trends, and Insights (2024)

Podcasting is one of the best formats of content to engage your audience and sell more efficiently. This has been catching more and more listeners and officially replacing the radio part of our lives.

Currently (as of 2024), over 4 million podcasts have been registered, and yet, Apple Podcasts has 2 million (roughly 37.6%) of all the podcasts happening worldwide on different platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, Google Podcasts, and Pandora.

With a high number of podcasters converting their audio-only podcasts into video-interview-based podcasting and still uploading a downloadable version to podcast hosting platforms, our podcast statistics are newsworthy and jaw-dropping for people who don’t know what podcasting really is.

Let's dive into the river of over 60+ podcast stats that can blow your mind:

Podcasting Revenue This Year Is Projected at $2 Billion

For some, podcast advertising is a no-roadway to making some money. But, for many podcast producers, this is a lucrative opportunity as they are making thousands of dollars out of their podcasts every month. Here are some podcast stats to back the revenue opportunity claims.

• 49% of podcast listeners think that products and services being mentioned by podcasters are actually being used by the hosts
• 60% of listeners actually bought something from listening to a podcast ad
• 81% prefer to buy something from podcast recommendations than from ads being seen on Billboards, TV, social media, and even radio-ads
• 22% believe there are tons of ads in a podcast than in other media formats
• In 2021 podcasting revenue was around $1 billion, it is going to be double this year
• 72% of people who listened to any podcast for four or more years actually have purchased a product or service from the sponsored ad in that podcast
• 51% are paying more attention to podcast ads than any other type of media
• 69% of listeners think podcasts really make them understand products, brands, and services by raising awareness about the same

It looks like people give more attention to podcasters than other content creators not just content marketers and tend to accept their opinions.

Question: What is the expected podcasting revenue this year?

Answer: Doubling from last year, this year the projected podcasting revenue is $2 billion

Some podcast stats to blow your mind:

• Over 30% of listeners make sure they are not listening to podcast ads by limiting their exposure to podcast advertising
• Pre-recorded ads are not interesting to super listeners

It is something like people really know what a podcast host is advertising and what is being recommended.

Source: PodPros, AllBlogThings, EdisonResearch.

There Are Over 4 Millions Podcasts Registered

Podcasts aside, there are over 125 million podcast episodes with 65% growth from 2021 as there were only 48 million podcast episodes in 2021.

• Over 4 million podcasts are registered on different platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Overcast
• Since July 2022, Apple Podcasts is leading the podcasting world with over 37.6% of podcast listeners+downloaders
• 57.8% of podcast listeners from 1,002 respondents prefer to listen to a podcast on YouTube
• As of August 19, 2022, there are more than 2,864,367 podcasts and 135,736,875 episodes published on the internet (Wikipedia)

Question: How many podcasts are registered till today?

Answer: Merging many podcast hosting platforms, there are officially more than 4 million podcast shows registered worldwide

These podcast stats could spark news stories:

• 3 out of 4 buyers who bought something after listening about it in a podcast marked their purchase as a good one
• 3 out of 5 podcast listeners like to interact with ads
• News is the most popular genre among podcast listeners following politics, true crime, and comedy respectively

Podcasting surely is not a new thing and is here to stay. People are talking more about it ever since producers are taking their audios in video formats to YouTube and TikTok.

Sources: ThePodcastHost, Wikipedia, Voices.

South Korea is the #1 Country Where Podcasting is Popular 

There are many countries where people know about podcasting but these South Korea and Spain are leading the list of top 10 countries where podcasting is popular. See the chart below:

this data chart is created by AllBlogThings.com

South Korea is leading this list because its 53% population is already listening to the podcasts and the number is still growing.

However, there are some countries where podcasting is taking flight.

• Chile is leading by +83.9% following Argentina +55.3%, Peru +49.1%, Mexico +47.1%, and China +43.6%
• A report in 2021 by Statista revealed Sweden as the #1 podcasting country
• In a 2020 report, Rajar shared that 18% of the adults in the United Kingdom listen to a podcast
• Italian users prefer music programs on a podcast and 45% of Italian podcast listeners listen to them instead of the news
• A big number (around 53% to 58%) of South Koreans listen to podcasts every month
• 50% of UK adults have already listened to a podcast and the number is growing
• 28% of the Canadian podcasting audience have an annual income of at least $100k
• In 2021, over 38% of Canadians have listened to a podcast
• 25% of UK podcast listeners are regular listeners
• 91% of Australians are aware of podcasting and audio shows

Question: Where is podcasting most popular?

Answer: South Korea is the #1 country where podcasting is so pupolar

These stats of podcasting could easily drop your jaw:

• 78% of Americans are aware of Podcasting
• North America and Asia Pacific people are more familiar with podcasting than others in the world
• Wikipedia owns the copyright of the term “Podcast” for writing about the history of podcasting

These podcast statistics may sound crazy but are real.

Sources: Statista, AllBlogThings, Rajar, EdisonResearch.

Comedy is the Most Popular Podcast Genre

Everybody loves to laugh out loud. Podcasting is also one of the media formats that let people laugh as big as they can. This is why most of the podcast audience go to a comedy podcasting show more than others. Here's a list of the top 10 podcasting genres for you:

this data chart is created by AllBlogThings.com

1. Comedy
2. News
3. True Crime
4. Sports
5. Health & Fitness
6. Religion & Faith
7. Politics
8. Self Help
9. Investigative Journalism
10. Finance

It turns out that people want to laugh by listening to a podcast or mostly want to get some news updates or listen to the stories.

Some professional and practical topics such as Self Help and Finance are the least listened to genres in podcasting which sounds crazy.

Question: What types of podcasts are popular among listeners?

Answer: Comedy and News is the most popular type of podcasts

Sources: Statista, AllBlogThings.

A Popular Podcast Episode Gets About 50,000 Downloads

Podcasting is not a little media format, it is one of the biggest options to reach people who are ready to purchase something and are capable of buying a recommendation. This is why (from our podcasting insights) a popular podcast episode gets about 50K downloads, and here’s a list of more stats for you:

• An average (low-performing) podcast episode averages 141 downloads in 30 days
• To be in the top 10% of podcasts, you have to reach 3,400 downloads in a month
• To tag your podcast as a top 5%, you need to hit 9,000 downloads of an episode that is live for 30 days
• The podcasts which rank in the 1% enjoy over 50,0000 downloads of an episode under 30 days

This data was revealed by Rob Walch of Libsyn.

Question: The average number of podcast downloads

Answer: An average podcast episode gets about 141 downloads post publishing

57% of US Consumers Listen to a Podcast Show

Of 100% of US consumers who are older than 12 years around 57% listen to a podcast and most of them make a purchase after getting a recommendation from a podcast episode.

• 38% of all Americans may have listened to a podcast episode last month and 26% of them listened to a podcast episode in the last week
• 177 million US residents have listened to a podcast an increase of 57% from 2021
• 11% listen to a podcast while at work
• 73% listen to a podcast using a smartphone
• 18% of podcast listeners own a smart entertainment-enabled vehicle
• 8% of podcasts are being listened to while exercising
• 13% out of all Americans listen to podcasts on a laptop or desktop
• 22% of listeners listen to a podcast while driving
• 49% of listeners stay at home while listening to a podcast

These podcasting statistics may blow your mind:

• There are only 424 million people around the world who actually listens to a podcast
• 22% of US podcast listeners are aged over 55, 43% are aged between 35 to 54, and 50% aged between 12 to 34

Question: The average number of podcast listeners

Answer: There are not more than 424 million people who listens to a podcast

Source: AllBlogThings, Statista, InfiniteDial.

FAQS: Frequently Asked Question about Podcast Stats

This section will be covering some questions that need a quick answer and are frequently asked by people around the globe.

The average number of podcast episodes

In a study done by ResearchGate, the average number of episodes for a podcast is 10 episodes or fewer at a 56.1% rate from their research. From that, 17% of the podcasts had 50 episodes or more and this accounts for the average of 30.1 episodes for an average successful podcast show.

The average number of podcast views

In a study by EdisonResearch titling as Infinite Dial, 62% of Americans will have listened to a podcast which is a 57% increase from last year counts as 177 million US citizens listened to a podcast.

The average number of podcast length

Mostly, the podcast episodes are lengthy and an average length of a podcast episode is around 36 minutes or more. Another study revealed that 22% out of 31% of all podcast episodes are around 40 to 60 minutes in the length. However, seeing the ever-changing listener behavior and short podcasts are also easy to be downloaded and consumed, podcasters are considering short-form podcasting that helps them to post short clips on YouTube, TikTok, and other social media accounts they may have. via

The average number of podcast hours listened

A study by Edison Research titled Super Listeners suggested most loyal podcast subscribers listen to a podcast for more than 5 hours in a week. Most of those 1,000 participants listen to a podcast that includes a video on Youtube for more than 11.2 hours a week.

Top countries for podcasting

In a report released by Statista, these are the top 10 countries where people listen to podcasts and produce podcasts mostly:

1. South Korea
2. Spain
3. Ireland
4. Sweden
5. United States
6. Italy
7. Canada
8. Australia
9. France
10. Japan

Top 10 Podcast Languages

If we talk about the top 10 languages in which podcasts are being recorded worldwide, we can have this list:

1. Korean
2. Spanish
3. English
4. Irish
5. Swedish
6. Italian
7. French
8. Japenese
9. Urdu
10. Australian

Seeing the rapid growth of podcasting in India and Pakistan, Urdu is one of the top 10 podcast languages around the globe.

In 2018 only 64% of US citizens were aware of what podcast is and now over 80% of US residents understand what podcasting is all about. This is actually a huge growth in just 4 years as more than half of the listeners tend to buy something after listening to an advertisement in the podcast.

Podcast Discover Stats

The podcast statists do not end here, there is more to discover, yes, people who listen to a podcast also tend to discover more podcasts by researching about the same using Google, Youtube, and other platforms. A 2019 study by EdisonResearch shows how podcast lovers find new podcasts to listen to:

• 30% of them go to google and other platforms to search for a new podcast
• 19% ask for recommendations from their loved ones
• 17% of podcast listeners go to social media for finding new podcast shows
• 7% actually find new podcasts from advertisements
• 6% rarely take the advice of the host to listen to another good podcast

It means a podcast producer who also has a website and social media presence is likely to grab more audience than any other podcasting expert who is relying only on RSS readers and Podcast Hosting platforms.

What Are the Top 10 Podcasts in the United States?

There are millions of famous podcasts in the world and people are listening to each of them as a goldmine. However, these are the top 10 podcasts that people mostly listen to in the United States:

1. The Joe Rogan Experience by Joe Rogan
2. Crime Junkie by audiochuck
3. The Daily by The New York Times
4. This American Life by This American Life
5. My Favourite Murder by Exactly Right
6. Stuff You Should Know by iHeartPodcast
7. The Ben Shapiro Show by The Daily Wire
8. Call Her Daddy by Alex Cooper
9. Morbid: A True Crime Podcast by Wondery
10. Office Ladies by Earworlf

These are the top 10 podcast shows in the US out of thousands of famous podcasts in the region.

While in the UK podcasting is popular among men, in the US it is growing among older listeners and they tend to listen to an episode completely.

Did You Know?

Here we have some podcasting statists and trends you show know about:

• An online study revealed that 74% of podcast hosts use headphones while recording an episode
• According to eMarketer, in 2025 the podcasting revenue will hit the $3 billion mark
• EdisonResearch revealed that 51% of podcast listeners had a full-time job and 28% have a university degree with a $100k to $150K annual salaries
• 22% of podcast listeners listen to about 22 hours of podcasts every week
• 35% of the participants listen to 10 different podcasting shows per month
• 25% of listeners use Spotify and 20% use Apple Podcasts as a platform for listing to podcasts (while a huge number is turning to Youtube for watching and listening to a podcast episode)

Sources: KevinGoldberg, AllBlogThings, Statista.

How do I find podcast stats, trends, and insights?

You don’t have to go anywhere, finding podcast stats is easy with what we are already sharing on this page as we are updating this podcasting statistics page every month with new data to make sure it is up to date for you.

If you are a journalist, a blogger, or a content creator (a podcast producer, someone who is responsible for gathering real facts and data) you are probably on the right page as here you can get all the podcast stats you may need for your publication.

Stay with us to see monthly updates for Podcast Statistics on this page.