According to data from February 2022, 32.5 million people in the United States were said to listen to podcasts on Spotify that year, while Apple had 28.5 million podcast listeners. Spotify's and Apple's figures were projected to add up to 42.4 million and 29.2 million by 2025, respectively.

According to a forecast on the habits of podcast listeners in 2022, Spotify has overtaken Apple Podcasts in terms of monthly podcast listeners in the United States. Spotify is estimated to reach 32.5 million podcast listeners per month while Apple Podcast is predicted to only have 28.5 million monthly listeners. However, both numbers present an increase in listener number compared to the previous year.

This statistic presents data on the most popular podcast categories worldwide in 2015, by number of active podcasts. According to the source, there were 14.2 thousand active podcasts in the music category worldwide in 2015.

This statistic presents data on the number of active podcasts on iTunes worldwide from 2008 to 2015. According to the source, there were 60 thousand active podcasts on iTunes in 2015, up from 40 thousand in 2012.

The global podcast market is experiencing robust growth, projected to reach a substantial size. While the exact CAGR is unavailable, considering the rapid expansion of digital audio content consumption and increasing podcast listener engagement, a conservative estimate of 15% annual growth from 2025 to 2033 seems reasonable. This would translate to significant market expansion. Given a 2025 market size of $4097.2 million, this growth trajectory points to a considerable increase in market value by 2033. Several factors fuel this growth. The increasing accessibility of podcasts through various platforms (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc.) and devices (mobile, desktop) contributes significantly. Moreover, the diverse range of podcast formats, including interviews, conversations, and storytelling, caters to a wide audience with varied preferences. The continuous evolution of podcasting technology and the emergence of innovative monetization strategies further contribute to market expansion. However, challenges remain. Competition among podcast platforms is intense, and listener acquisition and retention necessitate consistent high-quality content creation. Furthermore, effective monetization strategies beyond advertising remain crucial for podcast creators' financial sustainability. The market segmentation reveals that interview and conversational podcasts are prominent, underscoring the listener preference for interactive and engaging content. Geographical distribution demonstrates that North America and Europe represent key markets currently, though the Asia-Pacific region shows substantial growth potential as internet penetration and smartphone usage rise. The competitive landscape is dominated by established players and emerging platforms, constantly striving for audience engagement and market share.

The global podcast market is experiencing robust growth, projected to reach a market size of $2312.1 million in 2025, expanding at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 8.5% from 2025 to 2033. This significant expansion is driven by several key factors. The increasing accessibility of podcasts through various platforms like Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and others, coupled with the rise of smart speakers and mobile devices, has broadened the audience significantly. The diverse content formats, ranging from interviews and conversational podcasts to storytelling and investigative pieces, cater to a wide range of interests and preferences, fueling user engagement. Furthermore, the growing popularity of podcast advertising and sponsorship opportunities has attracted significant investment, fostering market expansion. The segmentation by podcast type (interview, conversational, monologue, etc.) and application (mobile, desktop) reveals specific areas of high demand which further inform growth strategies. Geographic distribution shows a strong presence across North America and Europe, with Asia-Pacific expected to exhibit significant growth potential in the coming years. The continued evolution of podcasting technology, including improvements in audio quality and accessibility features, will further enhance the user experience. The emergence of new platforms and innovative monetization strategies will play a crucial role in shaping the future of the market. While potential restraints like competition and maintaining consistent high-quality content exist, the overall growth trajectory remains positive, fueled by increasing listener engagement and a dynamic market landscape. The diverse range of podcast formats and applications ensures the market’s continued appeal and ensures sustained market expansion throughout the forecast period. This creates numerous opportunities for both established players and new entrants within the podcasting ecosystem.

The European podcast market, valued at $0.59 billion in 2025, is experiencing robust growth, projected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.5% from 2025 to 2033. This surge is driven by several key factors. The increasing accessibility of smartphones and high-speed internet has broadened podcast consumption, particularly among younger demographics. Simultaneously, the rise of diverse podcast formats—including interviews, conversational shows, solo podcasts, panel discussions, and repurposed content—caters to a wider range of interests and listening preferences, fostering higher engagement and listenership. Furthermore, the growing popularity of podcast advertising and sponsorship opportunities is attracting significant investment, fueling market expansion. Leading companies like Spotify, Apple, and others are strategically investing in podcast content creation and distribution, strengthening their market positions and further driving market growth. The market's geographical distribution reflects the digital nature of the medium, with high penetration across major European nations including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and others, leveraging existing infrastructure and digitally engaged populations. However, challenges remain. Competition within the market is intense, with established players vying for market share against emerging independent podcasters. Maintaining audience engagement and securing consistent advertising revenue requires significant effort and strategic planning. The market is also subject to broader economic influences and potential shifts in consumer preferences regarding audio entertainment. Despite these challenges, the overall outlook for the European podcast market remains exceptionally positive, driven by a continuously expanding audience and innovative developments within the industry. The focus on high-quality content, strategic partnerships, and targeted advertising will be key to achieving sustainable growth for players in this rapidly evolving market landscape.

The global podcast market is experiencing explosive growth, projected to reach a value of $6.08 billion in 2025 and maintain a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 29.08% from 2025 to 2033. This expansion is driven by several key factors. The increasing accessibility of podcasting technology, coupled with the rising popularity of on-demand audio content, has broadened the market's reach significantly. Diverse podcast genres, catering to a wide range of interests from news and politics to comedy and sports, attract a large and diverse listener base. Moreover, the monetization strategies employed by podcasting platforms, including advertising, subscriptions, and sponsorships, are proving effective, further fueling market growth. The strategic partnerships between podcasting platforms and established media companies are also contributing to market expansion, facilitating wider distribution and content creation. The market is segmented by podcast type (interviews, conversational, solo, panels, repurposed content) and genre, reflecting the diverse landscape of audio content available. Major players like Spotify, Amazon, and iHeartMedia are aggressively pursuing market share, utilizing a range of competitive strategies including exclusive content deals and technological advancements to improve the listener experience. Despite the significant growth, the podcast market faces some challenges. Competition among podcasting platforms is intense, necessitating continuous innovation and investment in technology and content. Furthermore, maintaining consistent audience engagement and monetizing content effectively remain key hurdles for smaller podcast creators. The fluctuating economic conditions might also influence advertising revenue, affecting the financial sustainability of some players. However, the overall outlook remains positive, with the podcast market predicted to continue its robust growth trajectory in the coming years, propelled by advancements in audio technology, increasing smartphone penetration, and evolving consumption habits of digital media. Geographical expansion into emerging markets also represents a significant opportunity for future growth. North America and Europe currently hold significant market share, yet the APAC region shows strong potential for future development.

According to a survey held in early 2024 in the United States, 59 percent of respondents aged 12 to 34 years old had listened to a podcast within the preceding month, compared to 27 percent of those aged 55 or above. Adults in the latter age category have been increasing their podcast listening consistently for years, to a point where respondents aged 35-54 almost caught up on the younger age category. Podcasts are gaining popularity This increased monthly podcast consumption shows the growing prevalence of the format in the United States. A survey on podcast consumption found that in 2012 only 29 percent of U.S. respondents had ever listened to an audio podcast, but this figure increased annually and reached 57 percent in 2021. Although this rise in popularity is significant, it might also reflect the generational gap in podcast consumption, with younger consumers tuning in more regularly than their older counterparts. In 2021, the share of Millennial podcast consumers in Canada and the U.S. amounted to 48 percent, with Boomers only making up 23 percent. Podcast providers The recent controversy surrounding Spotify and the Spotify-exclusive podcast ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, in which Spotify sided with Joe Rogan despite complaints from artists, demonstrated the rising influence of podcasts and their importance for streaming platforms. In the United States, the main platform used to access podcasts among adults was Spotify in 2020, with 31 percent of respondents using the service. Slightly less popular was Apple Podcasts with 22 percent of respondents citing the platform as their preferred provider. Similarly, data on the most popular podcast providers in the United States according to users’ age showed that Spotify was the go-to choice for all adults in the survey, though Apple Podcasts also fared well and SoundCloud was also the preferred platform among 26 percent of those aged 18 to 34 years old.

In October 2020, it was found that the most popular podcast genre in the United States was comedy, with 22 percent of respondents to a survey stating that they were very interested in podcasts designed to make them laugh. News podcasts and those based on true crime were also popular choices, as well as sport and health and fitness.

Podcasts are becoming increasingly popular

Podcasts have become a go-to form of audio entertainment, with digital episodes on different topics being either streamable or downloadable for easily accessible consumption. The number of podcast listeners within the United States is estimated to increase from 75.9 million listeners to over one billion in 2024.

Podcast market leaders

Within the constantly growing market for podcast, the globally leading podcast publisher in 2020 was iHeartRadio with 266.06 million unique streams and downloads. At the same time, a study found that Apple Podcast and Spotify were the most popular platforms to access podcast among Americans in 2020. Spotify was especially popular among the age group of 18 to 34 while younger and older consumers also often used Apple Podcasts.

As of April 2024, 91 percent of listeners in Mexico used Spotify to access podcasts. The second most used app was Apple Podcasts, thought it trailed far behind the Swedish streaming giant, at three percent.

In 2020, the most commonly used app for listening to podcasts in the United States was Spotify, with 25 percent of podcast listeners aged 18 or above saying that they used Spotify to listen to podcasts. Meanwhile, Apple Podcasts was used by 20 percent of adults, down from 21 percent in the previous year.

Growing market for podcasts

The term podcast, the name being a merge of the words “play on demand” and “broadcast”, refers to audio or video content in episodic formats that can be streamed or downloaded digitally. Topics cover a huge range of interests such as politics, health, or true crime; however, a study found that the most popular podcast genre in the United States was comedy. With 75.9 million podcast listeners in the United States alone, podcasting has become a large market within the audio sector.

Podcast consumption

Despite the growing podcast audience, the consumption among listeners is relatively low with 11 percent of consumers stating that they listen to podcasts less often than once a month. The relatively new audio format is preferred by younger generations, with 20 percent of the age group of 18 to 34 years having paid to access podcasts.

The statistic shows where consumers get podcasts in the United States in 2017 according to a Statista survey, by gender. During the survey, 50 percent of male respondents stated that they got podcasts from iTunes / the Apple Podcast App.

The statistic shows where consumers get podcasts in the United States in 2017 according to a Statista survey, by age. During the survey, 50 percent of respondents aged 30 to 59 stated that they got podcasts from iTunes / the Apple Podcast App.

The podcast market is experiencing an unprecedented boom in France, as well as all around the world. This new way of consuming audio content keeps attracting new listeners thanks to the mobility and adaptability it offers. Apple Podcasts was the most popular application when it comes to listening to podcasts, whereas the French application Deezer was used by 8.9 percent of respondents in France in 2023.

In June 2024, iHeart Audience Network had 67.3 million audience members in the United States. A ranking of the unique monthly audience of the most popular podcast publishers showed that National Public Radio came sixth with just under 18 million. Wondery outperformed NPR in that respect, reaching a monthly audience of 21.72 million. Podcast streaming market While publishers play an important role in the creation of podcasts, streaming services providing a platform for podcast consumption also benefit from the rising popularity of the format. In 2020, the preferred podcasts providers were Spotify, followed by Apple Podcast, Pandora and iHeartRadio, exceeding the popularity of Sirius XM, Stitcher and Wondery. Considering the revenue generated by streaming services through podcast streaming in 2019, Spotify is the clear market leader with a revenue of 7.5 billion U.S. dollars, followed by Stitcher and Wondery. Streaming services have realized the potential of podcasts, which is why they have started to invest in podcast creating and podcast streaming companies. In 2020, Spotify acquired The Ringer while competitor Sirius XM, after having purchased Pandora, obtained the successful podcast streaming service Stitcher. So far, these acquisitions seem to have proven successful, since Spotify is estimated to overtake Apple Podcast in terms of monthly podcast listeners in 2021. Popular podcast content In terms of content, the most popular genres within the podcast market in the U.S. are comedy followed by news and true crime. The podcasts with the highest revenue worldwide in 2019 were The Joe Rogan Experience, a Spotify-exclusive podcast hosted by the American comedian of the same name in which he talks to a wide array of guests, and My Favorite Murder, a bi-weekly true crime comedy podcast hosted by the American comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark in which they discuss true crime cases. While podcasts were already on the rise over the last few years, there has been an upsurge in podcast consumption during the last year due to the coronavirus pandemic, which meant a higher demand in audio, or entertainment in general, content.

According to a study from 2020 on podcast platforms in the United States, Spotify was the most popular podcast platform among the younger generation with 44 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 using the streaming service, followed by Apple Podcasts with 27 percent. In the age group of 35 to 54, 34 percent of respondents stated that they were using Spotify while another 32 percent said that they consumed podcasts on Apple Podcasts.

The statistic shows popularity of programs to listen to podcasts among podcast consumers in the United States in 2017 according to a Statista survey. During the survey, 33 percent of respondents stated that they use a music program such as iTunes or Play Music to listen to a podcast.

In Germany, the number of podcasts available on Spotify increased over the year 2019. In January 2019, only 20 percent of the podcasts were on the on-demand platform, while in December they made up 34 percent of the total volume. By contrast, Apple lost market volume shares, going from 45 oercent to 36 percent of the podcasts' volume.

The statistic shows the popularity of programs to listen to podcasts among podcast consumers in the United States in 2017, sorted by gender. During the survey, 37 percent of female respondents stated that they use a music program such as iTunes or Play Music to listen to a podcast.