According to a forecast from August 2023 on global podcast consumption, the number of podcast listeners worldwide has steadily increased and is predicted to rise even further. In 2023, the number of podcast listeners worldwide amounted to over *** million internet users, while this number was predicted to grow to more than *** million in 2027.

It was estimated that in 2024 there will be *** million podcast listeners in Latin America, which will put the region almost on par with North America that year and set it up to surpass it by the end of 2027. Interestingly, China is expected to see similar numbers to Latin America in 2027, albeit starting much lower in 2023 - at *** million podcast listeners.

A survey conducted in the United States in 2023 revealed that younger generations are more likely to be daily or weekly podcast listeners. On top of that, 35 percent of Millennials stated to listen to podcasts daily. Only ten percent of the baby boomer generation stated the same. A similar picture drew itself concerning weekly listenership, with Millennials being the leading podcast listening generation.

In 2024, a survey on podcast consumption revealed that ** percent of U.S. adults had either listened to or watched a podcast within the last month, a figure which has more than tripled over the past decade. Weekly podcast consumption has also sharply increased, and some of the world’s leading podcast publishers achieve millions of unique streams and downloads per month. Podcast consumption in the U.S. Once a niche format, podcasts have now become part of the mainstream media landscape. Between 2011 and 2025, the share of Americans who had ever consumed a podcast almost tripled, growing from ** to ** percent. As podcasts have grown in popularity, so has the variety of content available in the format. Some of the more popular podcast genres are music and comedy, but tens of millions of U.S. households have fans of sports, science, news and arts podcasts too. Podcasts are often also used as part of marketing strategies or to generate engagement between bloggers, news publications, or even different departments within a company. Like most forms of modern media, podcasts frequently include ads, and podcast ad revenue reached over *** billion U.S. dollars in the United States in 2023. By 2024, it is expected that advertising revenue in this sector will grow by around *** million each year and will exceed *** billion U.S. dollars in 2026. For U.S. consumers, podcasts are not just a source of inspiration or a way to escape from daily life but also an opportunity to educate themselves. In a survey held in early 2019, the majority of respondents said that their main reason for listening to podcasts was to learn new things. There are podcasts on philosophy, history, travel, and business, as well as much more including content aimed solely at educating children.

A 2023 survey on podcast listening trends in India revealed that more than a quarter of Indians listen to podcasts at least once daily. Another 25 percent listened to podcasts one or more times per week. Meanwhile, about three in 10 Indians did not listen to podcasts at all. Podcast listening has emerged as a growing trend among audio streaming users in India since 2021.

The number of monthly podcast consumers in the United States has been growing steadily. According to estimates, around *** million people consumed podcasts of any format in the month prior to the survey. This marked an increase of around ** million Americans. For the first time, these estimates included both audio and video podcasts, compared to previous years, when the data only covered audio consumption.

During an April 2023 survey carried out among podcast listeners from the United States, ** percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the majority of the ads they hear on podcasts were relevant to them, with ** percent saying that they go out of their way to support brands advertising on their favorite podcasts.

A survey conducted in the United States in 2023 revealed that podcasts were gnawing at the consumption time formerly been taken by other types of media. Less than 30 percent of podcast listeners stated that they would watch TV less frequently instead. Time spent on social media reduced for 24 percent of podcast listeners, whereas one in three Gen Z respondents spent less time on video games.

In 2023, around 135 million of internet users in Latin America listened to podcasts at least once a month. Forecasts expect that the number of podcast listeners in the region will grow to surpass 178 million by the end of 2027.

In 2023, comedy podcasts accounted for 17 percent of podcast advertising revenue in the United States. It was the most popular genre among advertisers. Sports and news podcasts followed with 13 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

According to the results of a study conducted in the U.S., among parents of children between the ages of three and 13, 71 percent of kids consume podcasts with their parents at least half of the time, while 48 percent do so almost always.

The number of podcast listeners in China was estimated to surpass *** million, with a **** percent year-over-year growth rate in 2025. Storytelling and conversational podcasts were the most popular content types among the Chinese podcast audience.

In 2022, podcasts were most popular among Poles aged from 25 to 34 years old, with a 73 percent share of respondents.

In Italy, the podcasts audience has significantly increased over the last years, going from 10.3 listeners in 2018 to 17.2 million listeners in 2024. In the recent years the number of podcast enthusiasts has grown by roughly one million per year.

According to a survey on the overall audio penetration in Australia conducted in 2023, 70 percent of respondents aged 18-24 claimed they listened to podcasts monthly. In contrast, only 17 percent of Australians aged 65+ stated that they listened to podcasts every month.

Young consumers in the United Kingdom are more likely to listen to podcasts, and this trend is growing. In 2024, 56 percent of respondents aged 18 to 34 years old said they listened to podcasts on a monthly basis, while a year earlier this figure stood at 47 percent.

In 2023, the number of podcasts listeners in Latin America grew by 10.7 percent compared to the previous year. Podcast listeners numbers in the region will continue to grow by 2027, albeit slower - that year the growth figure is expected to be at the level of 6.1 percent year-on-year.

According to a study on podcast consumption in the United Kingdom in the first half of 2023, ** percent of podcast listening hours on Spotify were spent listening to comedy podcasts. Another ** percent was spent listening to society and culture podcasts.

During a survey conducted among internet users in Brazil in 2023, around 50 percent of respondents aged between 16 and 24 years said they listened to podcasts. Three years earlier, that age group's share stood at 20 percent. Similarly, the overall percentage of internet users listening to podcasts in Brazil more than doubled between 2020 and 2023.

According to the results of a global survey held in early 2023, 19 percent of respondents from the United States had accessed a news podcast in the last month. This was more than double the share who had done so in the UK, Belgium, France, Argentina, and the Netherlands.