Statistics show that podcasts are becoming more popular over the years, especially among busy people who do not have time to read lengthy blogs or books.
These digital audio files consist of a series of episodes made available for listening and downloading through the use of the internet.
People can listen while doing household chores, during their morning exercises, or on their way to the office since they are convenient to use.
Knowing the updated statistics about podcasts is beneficial to produce relevant and engaging content.
This article will give you a list of podcast statistics in 2024 and other interesting information about podcasts.
Key Podcast Statistics
- There are 4,114,420 total registered podcasts worldwide as of January 2023.
- About 465 million people are podcast listeners in 2023.
- As of August 2022, North America has the biggest share of podcast listeners. It accounts for 40.8%.
- The United Kingdom had over 15 million podcast consumers in 2020.
- Most podcast episodes are 20 to 40 minutes long.
- The most popular podcast genre in the US in 2020 was “comedy.”
- The top podcast on Spotify in the US is “The Joe Rogan Experience”
- 22% of the 2019 podcast ad revenue was spent by health and wellness businesses in the US.
- Apple Podcasts is the most common podcast platform in the US as of January 2023, with 38.6% of podcast listeners.
- 47% of podcast users are aged 12 to 34 years old.
Detailed Podcast Statistics in 2024
Podcasting is still a “thing” today. It continuously grew in popularity and became part of media consumption worldwide.
More content creators and marketers leverage podcasting for businesses.
Creators should know and understand podcast statistics to reach their target audience.
As of January 2023, about 4,114,420 are total registered podcasts worldwide.
Apple Podcasts has more than 2.5 million podcasts, up from 2.3 million in September 2021, equivalent to a 7.8% increase.
More than 75 million podcast episodes are published in Apple Podcasts today, and about 17.7% of these podcasts are active, equal to 449,041.
How Many Podcast Listeners Worldwide in 2024?
Podcast listeners exceeded 464.7 million in 2023, increasing from 424.2 million in the previous year. It is forecasted to reach 504.9 million in 2024.
Below is a list of how many podcast listeners worldwide from 2019 to 2023:
- There were about 275 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2019
- There were about 332 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2020
- There were about 384 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2021
- There were about 424 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2022
- There were about 465 million podcast listeners worldwide in 2023
As of August 2022, North America has the biggest share of podcast listeners.
40.8% of people in North America are podcast listeners, listening at least once a month. It is expected to exceed 42% by the end of 2023.
North America is followed by Western Europe, accounting for 28.1% of podcast listeners.
Here are some countries with the biggest shares of podcast listeners in 2022:
- 40.8% were podcast listeners in North America in 2022
- 28.1% were podcast listeners in Western Europe in 2022
- 26.7% were podcast listeners in Latin America in 2022
- 13.3% were podcast listeners in South Korea in 2022
- 12.9% were podcast listeners in Japan in 2022
- 9.9% were podcast listeners in China in 2022
Podcast in the United Kingdom
British podcasts became one of the most popular audio entertainment forms in the United Kingdom.
The country had over 15 million podcast consumers in 2020.
How many people in the United Kingdom listen to podcasts?
Based on 2021 research, 50% of internet users in the UK listened to podcasts, and half of them are regular podcast listeners.
Podcast users in the country aged 25 to 34 years old prefer listening to comical podcasts.
Length of Podcast Episode
Most podcast episodes are between 20 to 40 minutes long. If the episode is longer, it can turn off the listeners.
Here are the lengths of podcast episodes:
- 15% of podcasts last less than 10 minutes
- 14% of podcasts last 10 to 20 minutes
- 31% of podcasts last 20 to 40 minutes
- 22% of podcasts last 40 to 60 minutes
- 17% of podcasts last more than 60 minutes
Podcast Genres in the United States
Podcasts have various topics and genres. It depends on what appeals to the target audience or the interests of the creators.
The most popular podcast genre in the US in 2020 was “comedy.” 22% of listeners in the country were interested in topics that make them laugh.
Let’s take a look at the following podcast genres in the United States in 2020, based on Statista:
- 22% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with comedy content in 2020
- 21% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with news content in 2020
- 18% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with true crime content in 2020
- 17% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with sports content in 2020
- 17% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with health/fitness content in 2020
More Podcast Genres in the US
Here are some additional podcast genres in the US:
- 16% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with religion/faith content in 2020
- 16% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with political content in 2020
- 15% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with self-help/productivity content in 2020
- 13% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with investigative journalism content in 2020
- 13% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with financial content in 2020
- 11% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with scripted comedy content in 2020
- 10% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with game show content in 2020
- 9% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with pop culture content in 2020
- 8% of podcast users in the US listened to podcasts with scripted drama content in 2020
Top Podcasts in the US
Based on the most recent data from Podcast Charts, the top podcast on Spotify in the US is “The Joe Rogan Experience,” followed by “The Deck Investigates.”
Here are the top 10 podcasts in the US:
- “The Joe Rogan Experience” – Joe Rogan
- “The Deck Investigates” – Audiochuck
- “Huberman Lab” – Scicomm Media
- “The Girl in the Blue Mustang” – NBC News
- “Call Her Daddy” – Alex Cooper
- “This Past Weekend” – Theo Von
- “Distractible” – Distractible
- “Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain” – Emma Chamberlain
- “Crime Junkie” – Audiochuck
- “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard” – Armchair Expert
Podcast Audience in the US
According to Truelist’s recent data, podcast listeners in the US are more diverse.
59% of the podcast audiences in the country are White, while 16% each are African-American and Hispanic, and 3% are Asian.
22% of the 2019 podcast ad revenue was spent by health and wellness businesses in the country.
Most Commonly Used Platforms for Podcasts
Apple Podcasts is the most common podcast platform in the US as of January 2023, with 38.6% of podcast listeners.
Spotify comes next with 26.7%.
Here are the most common platforms for podcasts as of January 2023:
- 38.6% of podcasts listeners listen to Apple Podcasts
- 26.7% of podcasts listeners listen to Spotify
- 3.5% of podcasts listeners listen to Web Browser
- 2.6% of podcasts listeners listen to Google Podcasts
- 1.4% of podcasts listeners listen to Castbox
- 1.3% of podcasts listeners listen to Podcast Addict
- 1.0% of podcasts listeners listen to Overcast
- 2.0% of podcasts listeners listen to Apple iTunes
- 0.7% of podcasts listeners listen to Pocket Casts
- 0.7% of podcasts listeners listen to Amazon Music
Conclusion
Data reveals that 47% of podcast users are Millennials and Gen Zs, ages 12 to 34 years old.
33% of users listen to podcasts while working or studying, and 22% while traveling or driving.
Now you know the updated podcast statistics and other interesting information about it, you are ready to create your podcast.