We all witnessed how significant 2021 was for the podcasting industry. The addition of podcasters, listeners, and marketers was staggering! Podcasting’s ascend as a popular media continued in 2022, gathering 424.2 million listeners worldwide.
We are in 2023; the number of podcast listeners have reached 464.7 million. It’s important to keep track of the podcast industry’s progress. This understanding of 2023 podcast statistics will aid you in making informed decisions as a podcaster or a marketer this year.
Now let’s take a look at some of the most interesting podcasting statistics as of 2023 that we have compiled based on the most recent industry figures.
Podcast Statistics 2023 Highlights
Here is the list of key podcast statistics in brief:
- There are 464.7 million podcast listeners globally as of 2023.
- It is predicted that there will be around 504.9 million podcast listeners worldwide by the end of 2024.
- There are over 5 million podcasts with over 70 million episodes between them.
- The United States has the most podcast listeners in the world. It is predicted that over 100 million active podcast listeners will be in the U.S. in 2023.
- Scandinavian countries have the highest podcast penetration rate.
- One-third of the American Population listens to podcasts regularly.
- Smart speaker sales increased by 22% during the pandemic, and it is one the most popular channel to listen to podcasts.
- 78% of the US population is aware of podcasts. Out of which, 28% listen to podcasts weekly.
- 160 million US citizens have listened to podcasts at least once.
- 91% of Australian people are aware of podcasts.
- Podcast listening is highest in the morning, and most of the podcasts are listened to on a mobile phone.
In-depth Podcast Statistics
Now that we have seen the podcast stats in brief already, let us give you a closer look at the podcast scene in this section.
12. Number of Podcasts In The World.
There are over 5 million podcasts with over 70 million episodes between them as of February 2023.
Spotify alone has around 5 million podcast titles on its platform.
13. The Number of Podcast Listeners (Podcast Popularity)
There are 464.7 million podcast listeners globally as of February 2023.
It is predicted that there will be around 504.9 million podcast listeners worldwide by the end of 2024.
This is a considerable rise in number since 2019; there were 274.8 million podcast listeners in the world back then.
Here is a table showing the number of podcast listeners globally over the years:
| Year | Number of Podcast Listeners |
| 2019 | 274.8 million |
| 2020 | 332.2 million |
| 2021 | 383.7 million |
| 2022 | 424.2 million |
| 2023 | 464.7 million |
| 2024* (Forecasted) | 504.9 million |
14. Podcasts Are Growing The Fastest in These Nations
Voxnest’s study reveals that Chile is the fastest-growing nation in the podcasting scene.
Below is the list of Nations that are growing fast in the podcasting scene:
| Nation | Percent of growth |
| Chile | 84% |
| Argentina | 55.3% |
| Peru | 49.1% |
| Mexico | 47.8% |
| China | 43.6% |
15. Podcasting Industry will be worth $4 billion in the future.
As of 2023, the podcasting industry is valued at $2 billion. The podcasting industry will be worth $4 billion in 2024.
16. 79% of Americans are aware of podcasting
As of 2023, 79% of American population is aware of podcasts. If we take a look at 2006 numbers, It was just 20%
That is an increase of 59% in the span of 17 years.
17. Swedish People Consume Most Podcasts
47% of Swedish people claim that they have listened to at least one podcast in the previous year.
18. 91% of Australians know about podcasts
As per a study by infinite dial, 91% of Australians who are above the age of 12 are aware of podcasts.
19. 62% Million US Citizens Have Listened To a Podcast
More than 205.5 million US citizens have listened to a podcast at least once in their life.
When an identical survey was carried out back in 2006, only 29% of the American population listened to podcasts at least once in their life.
Here is a table showing the share of U.S. population that have listened to podcasts over the years:
| Year | Share Of U.S. Population |
| 2012 | 29% |
| 2013 | 27% |
| 2014 | 30% |
| 2015 | 33% |
| 2016 | 36% |
| 2017 | 40% |
| 2018 | 44% |
| 2019 | 51% |
| 2020 | 55% |
| 2021 | 57% |
| 2022 | 62% |
20. US Monthly and Weekly Listeners
41% of people in the USA tune into a podcast every month, and 28% do it weekly.
As per a report by Insider Intelligence, around 144 million people in the U.S. listen to a podcast every month.
21. 22% of people listen to a podcast while driving
As per an infinite dial report, 22% of people tune into a podcast episode while they are commuting.
22. The Smartphone Is The most Popular Device To Stream a Podcast
79% of people in the U.S.A. listen to a podcast from their smartphones.
It is no wonder as Around 280 million Americans access the internet via a smartphone.
1/4th of all Podcast listeners tune in via a web browser.
Only 6% of people use a tablet to listen to a podcast.
23. Most Popular Apps to listen to Podcasts
As per a buzzsprout report, Apple Podcasts is the leader in podcast streaming.
Although Spotify has a bigger podcast library, most people around the globe use an iOS device and use apple podcast to tune into their favourite shows.
Spotify had recently surpassed Apple in the leaderboard, but Apple has come back to regain the top spot.
Here is the overview of the top Podcast streaming apps in 2023:
| Platform | Share in Market |
| Apple Podcasts | 37.4% |
| Spotify | 26.8% |
| Web Browser | 2.9% |
| Google Podcasts | 2.4% |
| Castbox | 2.0% |
| Podcast Addict | 1.5% |
| Overcast | 1.2% |
| Apple iTunes | 1.1% |
| Pocket Casts | 0.7% |
| Amazon Music | 0.7% |
24. Podcast is Most Popular among people aged 12-34
As per the Infinite Dial report, 50% of people between the age of 12 to 34 listen to podcasts every month.
25. Weekly Listeners average 8 podcast episodes
An average weekly US podcast listener listens to 8 episodes.
26. Podcast ranking and Listeners
Buzzsprout did a study in which they revealed that the top 1% of podcasts get an average of 3994+ downloads in the first 7 days of release.
Here is the overview of podcast ranks and the Average no. of downloads in the first 7 days of release:
- Top 1% of Podcasts get more than 3994 downloads.
- Top 5% of Podcasts get more than 795 downloads.
- Top 10% of Podcasts get more than 335 downloads.
- Top 25% of Podcasts get more than 93 downloads.
- Top 50% of Podcasts get more than 30 downloads.
27. Video Podcasts
A study done by the podcast host revealed that just 17% of podcast hosts record their episodes in video format as well.
The survey also revealed that Just 10% of Podcasters go live.
28. Advertisements from podcasts have been introduced 69% of listeners are to new products
A study done by the podcast host reveals that 69% of listeners claim to have been exposed to new brands and products as a result of ads from a podcast.
29. Podcasts on the top two listening platforms
As of February 2023, Spotify has 5 million podcast titles in its library.
As for Apple podcasts, the number stands at 2,456,503.
Top Podcasts on Spotify
Here is the region-wise list of top Spotify podcasts.
- Top 5 Podcasts in the United States Of America
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Huberman Lab
- Crime Junkie
- Let’s Not Meet: A True Horror Podcast
- Call Her Daddy
- Top 5 Podcasts in Australia
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- Basically Besties
- Do You F*****g Mind?
- Huberman LabAlpha Blokes Podcast
- Top 5 Podcasts in the United Kingdom
- The Joe Rogan Experience
- The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett
- Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe’s Parenting Hell
- The Rest Is Politics
- The Rest Is History
Source: https://podcastcharts.byspotify.com
30. Most Popular Podcast Genres
As per Statista, Comedy is the most popular podcast genre in the U.S.
Here is the complete list,
- Comedy
- Social and Cultural
- Health and Fitness
- Arts & Entertainment.
- Education.
But this study is from 2020, and the trends have changed; although there is no official study as of 2023, here is my personal list!
I made this list after studying all the top 5 podcasts across various world regions.
- Comedy.
- True Crimes.
- Social and Cultural
- Health/fitness/sports
- Business (Motivation/entrepreneurship)
31. Popular Podcast Genres in the UK.
Statista found out that people in the U.K. aged 25 to 34 loved Comical podcasts.
22% of the respondents voted for Comedy, and 10% voted for Football, which was the second most popular podcast genre in the UK.
32. International podcast Statistics
- Apple podcasts is the #1 choice of french podcast listeners. Deezer, a home-grown podcast listening platform, ranks second in France with 7% votes.
- La Corenta was one of the most downloaded podcast in Latin America, with 1.66 million downloads every week.
- Here is the overview of the top 3 downloaded podcasts in Latin America:
| Podcast Name | Number of downloads |
| La Crenta | 1.66 million |
| Leyendas Legendarias | 882k |
| Titulares Deportivos | 460.2k |
- Around 58% of South Korean adults tune into a podcast monthly
- More than 9 million Canadian adults are monthly podcast listeners
- 24% of listeners in Denmark tune in every week.
33. Podcast Duration Statistics
The majority of podcasts are 20-40 minutes long. Only 15% of podcasts are under the 10-minute mark.
Here is an overview of the average duration of podcasts
| Podcast Duration | Share of Episodes |
| Under 10 minutes | 15% |
| 10 to 20 minutes | 15% |
| 20 to 40 minutes | 30% |
| 40 to 60 minutes | 21% |
| >60 minutes | 18% |
34. iHeartPodcasts is the leading podcast publisher in the United States
Publishers play an important role in the creation of podcasts. With 30.43 million unique monthly audience, iHearPodcasts is the top podcast publisher in the U.S.
‘Wondery’ and ‘NPR’ comes in the second and third spot with 25.51 and 18.25 million unique monthly audience, respectively.
Here is the list of the most popular podcast publishers in the United States as of 2023:
| Podcast Publisher | Unique Monthly Visitors |
| iHeartPodcasts | 30.43 million |
| Wondery | 25.51 million |
| NPR | 18.25 million |
| NBC News | 10.21 million |
| New Yorl Times | 9.43 million |
| The Walt Disney Company | 8.05 million |
| Daily Wire | 7.81 million |
| Barstool Sports | 6.38 million |
| PRX | 5.29 million |
| Fox Audio Network | 5.26 million |
Bonus Podcast Statistics
Here is a list of additional interesting and important statistics associated with Podcasting.
35.) More people (18%) are listening to podcasts in 2023 than they did eight years ago.
36.) People prefer to listen to podcasts between 10:00 to 15:00. Podcast listening peaks from 08:15 to 08:30 a.m.
37.) households with $100,000 to $150,000 income account for about 17% of the total monthly podcast listeners in the USA.
38.) 51% of monthly podcast listeners have a full-time job, while 25% have a college degree.
39.) 59% of people tune into a podcast while doing something else simultaneously.
40.) 21.7% of podcast listeners are subscribed to over 70 podcasts.
Sources: Semrush, Statista, Edison Research, The podcast host.
Related Read:
Conclusion: Podcast Statistics (2023)
This is our take on podcast statistics as of February 2023. The podcast scene is booming. Especially after the pandemic, the industry really took off. This is the set of the most up-to-date figures. We will update this space as more studies keep coming.
If you have other interesting statistics that we missed, please let us know in the comments; we would love to add them to the blog.
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