100+ Podcast Statistics for 2024

With podcast listeners set to reach a new high of over 500 million in 2024, the $34 billion podcast industry shows no signs of slowing down. Not only have podcasts surged in popularity, but opportunities to monetize and develop a profitable business model are on the rise.

At Whop, we’ve consulted a range of sources to deliver a comprehensive overview of the booming industry. Read on to find over 100 podcast statistics to guide your podcasting strategy in 2024 and beyond. 

Podcast Market Statistics

The podcasting market has grown into a $27 billion industry¹.

In 2024, the global podcasting market will hit $34 billion. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 27.8% to $233.9 billion by 2032.

In terms of formats, the podcasting market is primarily divided into interviews, panels, solo, repurposed content, conversational, and other formats. Globally, the interview format is the most common, with a market share of 31%.

Meanwhile, the fastest-growing format segment, with a market share of 26% is the solo format. This is closely followed by repurposed content and panels.

YouGov² studied 47 global markets in 2024, to understand listenership patterns and found that:

• 40% of global podcast listeners polled listened to podcasts for more than an hour a week, with 10% listening for more than 10 hours per week.
• In North America, the USA had the highest number of podcast listeners 48%) listening to podcasts for over 1 hour a week.

In the Asia Pacific region, Indonesia had the highest number of podcast listeners (57%) listening to podcasts for over 1 hour a week.

• In Europe, Romania had the highest number of podcast listeners (47%) listening to podcasts for over 1 hour a week.
• In Latin America, Mexico had the highest number of podcast listeners (48%) listening to podcasts for over 1 hour a week.
• In the Middle East and Africa, South Africa had the highest number of podcast listeners (68%) listening to podcasts for over 1 hour a week.

The leading podcast publisher worldwide as of June 2023 was iHeartPodcasts³ with 377.24 million streams and downloads. 

In second place was Wondery, with 176.23 million unique streams and downloads. Other leading publishers as per their unique streams and downloads included:

• NPR - 162.04 million
• New York Times - 111.71 million
• Daily Wire - 79.94 million
• NBC News - 70. 41 million 
• PRX - 52.45 million
• The Walt Disney Company

Podcast Platform Statistics

Streaming services like Apple Podcasts and Spotify, which attract millions of listeners and have played a major role in making podcasts a more convenient and accessible entertainment medium.

Spotify 

Spotify has over 602 million users and 236 million subscribers across 180 markets⁴. The platform also boasts over 5 million podcast titles. Spotify saw the number of monthly users intentionally listening to podcasts increase by 175% in 2023⁵. It was also the preferred podcast platform amongst younger generations⁶.

In 2024:

• Spotify users in the US alone will exceed 43 million in 2024, an increase of 11.7% from 2023.
• These listeners will spend an average of 16 minutes per day on the platform, making up 19% of time spent consuming digital audio.
• Spotify will claim almost 32% of podcast listeners in the US.

iHeartRadio

iHeartRadio has over 860 live broadcast stations in 160 markets across the US. In 2024:

• US iHeart Radio podcast listeners will reach 33.1 million in 2024, up 8.9% from 2023.
• The platform will claim nearly 25% of podcast listeners in the US.

Apple Podcasts

Apple Podcasts, launched in 2012, gives podcasters access to over 132 million Apple smartphone users.

• US Apple podcast listeners will reach 28.7 million in 2024, increasing to 30 million by 2027.
• Apple podcasts will claim 21.2% of podcast listeners in the US.

Pandora 

Pandora, originally Savage Beast Technologies, was acquired by Sirius XM in 2018 for $3.5 billion.

In 2024:

• Pandora Podcast listeners in the US will reach 42.5 million.
• The platform will account for 4.2% of total time spent with audio.

YouTube Premium 

As of February 2024, the platform had 100 million premium subscribers. 

• YouTube Premium US subscription revenues are expected to hit $3.12 billion in 2024.

Podcast Engagement Statistics

As of October 2023, there were over 3 million podcast titles with a total of almost 180 million episodes to choose from.

That’s more options than audiences have across TV and streaming services combined.

A 2023 study on podcast genres revealed that 30% of podcast listening hours on Spotify were spent listening to comedy podcasts⁷, making them the most popular podcast genre on the platform.

This was followed by:

• Society and Culture podcasts with a listening share of 18%
• Lifestyle And Health podcasts with a listening share of 15%
• True Crime podcasts with a listening share of 10%
• Educational podcasts with a listening share of 7%

As per Buzzsprout, the most common podcast length as of June 2024 was between 20 and 40 minutes⁸, with 32% of around 124,000 active podcasts being that length. 

Since 2021, the following statistics have remained fairly consistent.

• 22% of podcasts were between 40 and 60 minutes.
• 16% of podcasts were shorter than 10 minutes.
• 16% of podcasts were over 60 minutes.
• 15% of podcasts were between 10 and 20 minutes.

Buzzsprout data also revealed that a majority of podcasts (40%) published episodes every 8-14 days in 2024.

Additionally:

• 34% published episodes every 3 to 7 days.
• 19% published episodes every 15 to 29 days.
• 6% published episodes every 2 days.
• 1% published episodes every 30 days or more.

A Spotify report⁹ revealed the following insights about listener behavior in 2023:

• 78% of podcast consumption took place between Monday and Friday.
• 71% occurred during commuting and traveling, between 8 am and 5 pm.
• 71% also took place while doing chores around the house.
• 43% took place while relaxing.
• 34% took place while working out.

The same report revealed the following category trends: 

• Religion & Spirituality, Arts, History, Health & Fitness, Science, and Fiction genres had higher listenership in the mornings and late nights.
• Leisure (Games & Hobbies), and Kids & Family were more popular during the evenings.

Further, in terms of engagement, 73% of podcast listeners said they were interested in interacting with their favorite podcast hosts.

Asking listeners questions increased engagement 2.5x, while personalized questions drove 8.7x more engagement.

54% of podcast listeners discovered a new podcast on a show they already listened to. 

This was followed by recommendations from friends and family at 53% and:

• Browsing Spotify - 50%
• Social Media - 42%
• Reading articles, blogs, and newsletters -15%
• Podcast charts -12%

Lastly, discovery patterns varied between age groups. Gen Z were 1.5x more likely to turn to socials in their search. 

Meanwhile, Gen X and Boomers were more likely to turn to articles, blogs, and newsletters.

In terms of podcast discovery, 40% of podcast listeners searched their podcast listening app’s directory¹⁰.

Meanwhile:

• 18.3% relied on recommendations
• 15.2% asked on social media or in an online community
• 13.6% searched on Google
• 13% browsed through a podcast chart or featured section.

The report found that a podcast description was the most important factor

podcast listeners judged when considering a potential new podcast.

This was followed by:

• A podcast’s episode title 
• The frequency of new episode releases
• The podcast’s ratings and reviews
• The podcast’s artwork

Nearly 30% of podcast listeners gave a new podcast up to 15 minutes to hook them before giving up on it.

27.5% gave a new podcast 5 minutes or less to make an impression, while 22.6% gave a podcast 1 full episode to hook them. 

Additionally:

• 10.2% gave a podcast 2 full episodes
• 8.3% gave a podcast 3-5 full episodes
• 2.3% gave a podcast 1 minute or less

In terms of potential turn-offs, 6.2% of listeners stated that they wouldn’t listen to shows with adverts.

Meanwhile, over 50% of respondents said they were turned off by poor audio quality.

In terms of episode length, 70% of podcast listeners said they didn’t care about the length of a podcast. 

While 19% of podcast listeners felt put off by shorter episodes of 15 minutes or less, significantly more listeners (32%) were put off by longer episodes of an hour or more. 

Finally, close to 64% of respondents felt a podcast’s back catalog had an impact on whether or not they decided to listen.

• 16.5% of podcast listeners preferred to have a small number of episodes to help them catch up easily or follow along.
• 15.9% preferred to have access to a big back catalog of hundreds of episodes.
• 3.9% didn’t listen through the back catalog of a podcast.

In a 2020 report, 60% of audiences on Spotify said they listened to podcasts to educate themselves¹¹, with 66% giving them their full attention.

Additionally, over 30% of podcast listeners tuned into podcasts due to their screenless nature. Further highlighting the convenience of podcasts, the same study found that 77% of podcasts occurred on a mobile device.

Podcast Consumer Statistics

According to Deloitte, average monthly podcast consumers will hit over 1.7 billion¹² in 2024.

Additionally, annual revenues in the podcast industry are set to reach $3.5 billion or around $2 per listener, a 30% increase from the previous year.

Around 505 million people will listen to podcasts in 2024, up from 464 million in 2023. 

The popularity of podcasts is reflected in the growing number of podcast listeners worldwide. While podcasts have become mainstream in the US, this is not the case for other populous regions across the world. 

For example, less than one out of six internet users in China, Japan, and South Korea have listened to at least one podcast per month, indicating promising room for growth and a gap in the market for podcasters.

As of 2024, North America will have the most podcast listeners at 149.4 million, this is up 4.3% from 143.3 million listeners in 2023.

In the US, where podcasting is mainstream, there will be over 135 million podcast listeners in 2024, up 3.9% from 129.9 million listeners in 2023.

There will be 147.5 million Latin American podcast listeners in 2024.

This is up 10.5% from 135.2 million listeners in 2023. By 2025 Latin American podcast listeners are set to exceed North America’s podcast listeners.

China had 117.1 million podcast listeners in 2023.

According to estimates, China will add more than 60 million podcast listeners between 2023 and 2027, for a total of 178.7 million listeners— the most of any other region at the time.

Consumer Podcast Statistics US

According to a 2024 Edison Research report, podcast listenership in the US is the highest it’s ever been¹³, with 67% of the US population 12 years and older having listened to a podcast.

That’s up from 23% in 2010, 33% in 2015 and 55% in 2020.

Since 2014, the average time spent listening to podcasts has grown by a whopping 450%.

In 2014, podcasts accounted for 2% of the US population’s time spent listening to audio sources, by 2024, this increased to 11%.

Consumers will spend an average of 54 minutes per day listening to podcasts in 2024 while paying podcast subscribers will spend an average of 28 minutes a day listening to podcasts in 2024.

This is up from:

• 16 minutes in 2020
• 20 minutes in 2021
• 23 minutes in 2022
• 25 minutes in 2023

Overall, weekly podcast listeners spent an average of 7 hours and 43 minutes listening to podcasts.

Among listeners 55 years and older this increased to 8 hours per week.

As of Q1 2024, 45% of women listened to podcasts monthly.

This represents a notable 9% increase from 39% in 2023 and highlights the growing popularity of podcasts among women. 

Meanwhile, 48% of men listened to podcasts.

That's up 2% from 46% last year. 

While men were more likely to listen to podcasts than women, female audiences listened to an average of 9.5 podcast episodes per week.

That's compared to an average of 7.2 podcast episodes per week for male audiences.

Listening to podcasts has become more popular across age groups. Notably, as of 2024:

• 60% of US consumers between the ages of 12 and 24 listened to a podcast, up from 55% in 2023.
• 55% of US consumers between the ages of 35 and 54 listened to a podcast, up from 51% in 2023.
• 27% of US consumers 55 and older listened to a podcast, up from 21% last year. 

Podcast listeners in the US have also become more diverse, with listenership levels among Black and Latino Americans being their highest in 2024.

• 48% of Black Americans listened to podcasts each month in 2024, a 15% increase from 2020.
• 43% of Latino Americans listened to podcasts each month in 2024, a 19% increase from 2020.

The Top 5 podcasts in the US for Q1 2024 were:

• The Joe Rogan Experience
• Crime Junkie
• The Daily
• New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce
• Dateline NBC

In 2022, over 25% of consumers in the US were likely to pay or donate money to listen to a podcast.

Among those likely to pay for podcasts in the US, 39% were aged between 25 and 34, while 20% were between the ages of 18 and 24. The willingness to pay to access podcasts was higher at 40% among weekly listeners.

Additionally, the genres podcast listeners wanted to see most were:

• History - 34% 
• News or Politics - 29%
• Comedy - 26%
• Science - 25%
• True Crime - 22%

Consumer Podcast Statistics UK

According to a 2024 Edison Research report, podcast listenership in the UK is on the rise, with 69% of the UK population 18 years older having listened to a podcast¹⁴.

That's up from 59% in 2021 and 60% in 2023.

The same report found 30% of UK consumers listened to podcasts weekly in 2024.

This represents a slight increase from 2023 when weekly listenership was 25%. UK Podcast listeners also spent an average of 5 hours and 27 minutes listening to podcasts.

Across all age groups, monthly podcast listening has increased. Notably, in 2024:

• 56% of UK consumers aged 18-34 were monthly podcast listeners, up from 47% in 2023.
• 45% of UK consumers aged 35-54 were monthly podcast listeners, up from 39% in 2023.
• 28% of UK consumers aged 55 and older were monthly podcast listeners, up 20%.

The podcast listening gender gap is closing in the UK. According to the report, as of Q1 2024:

• 39% of UK women were monthly podcast listeners.
• 26% of UK women were weekly podcast listeners.

Podcast listeners in the UK have also become more diverse. In 2024:

• 48% of Black UK adults listened to podcasts each month.
• 39% of Asian UK adults listened to podcasts each month.

The report further found that the top 5 podcasts in the UK for Q1 2024 were:

• The Joe Rogan Experience
• The Diary of a CEO with Steven Bartlett
• Sh**ged Married Annoyed
• The Rest is Politics
• Saving Grace

Consumer Podcast Statistics Canada

As per a 2024 Triton Digital report, 38% of Canadians listened to podcasts in 2023¹⁵.

This represents a 10% increase from 28% in 2019.

The same report found that Canadians aged 18 and older:

• Listened to an average of 3.6 podcasts per week
• Spent 5.9 hours listening to podcasts per week
• Listened to an average of 8.2 podcast episodes per week.

92.9% of Canadians accessed podcasts via mobile.

In addition, YouTube led consumption with 50% of Canadian podcast listeners using the platform to access podcasts. This was followed by Spotify (46%) and Apple Podcasts (24%)

Consumer Podcast Statistics Australia 

According to a 2023 Edison Research report, 43% of the Australian population 12 and over listened to podcasts in 2023¹⁶.

Surpassing the US market over the same period, this represented a significant 26% increase in listening rates in 2017.

The same report found that listenership rates were highest among those aged 18-24 at 70%. 

Meanwhile, listenership rates were lowest among those over 65 at 17%.

Australian podcast consumers listened to an average of five podcast episodes weekly. 

• 87% of podcast listeners tuned in at home, followed by 64% in their cars.
• At 66% Spotify was the service used most often to access podcasts, followed by YouTube at 61%.

Podcast Monetization Statistics

Podcasts have emerged as a lucrative monetization avenue for creators. In fact, 69% of podcasters achieve monetization after running their shows for over 2 years¹⁷. Popular revenue streams include ads, subscriptions, sales, listener donations, and speaking engagements.

Depending on several factors, podcasters can make anywhere between $300 - $5,000 per episode with 10,000 downloads with some podcasters generating millions from their shows.

In 2019, the top 5 podcasts earned a combined revenue of $71 million¹⁸.

• The Joe Rogan Experience generated $30 million.
• My ‘Favorite Murder’ by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark, generated $15 million.
• The Dave Ramsey Show generated $10 million.
• Armchair Expert by Dax Shepherd generated $9 million
• The Bill Simmons Podcast generated $7 million.

Podcast Ad Statistics

As the most common monetization method for podcasters, podcast advertising boasts a growth rate of 72%, outpacing online advertising’s growth rate of 35%.

Revenue in the global podcasting advertising market is forecasted to hit $4.02 billion¹⁹ in 2024, up 16% from 2023. Globally, the majority of revenue will be generated in the US, around $2.5 billion in 2024.

With brands and businesses increasingly investing in podcast ads to reach global audiences, revenue in the market is expected to surge, growing at an annual growth rate of 5.92% to reach a projected market volume of $5.36 billion by 2029.

Advertisers are expected to spend $2.37 billion on podcasts in 2024, an increase of 19% from 2023.

Of this amount, $220 million, or 9.3% will be purchased programmatically. By 2026, podcast ads will account for 35% or over $3 billion of spending on total digital audio services.

Podcasters working with podcast networks such as Acast or Libsyn Ads (formerly AdvertiseCast) can expect to earn anywhere between $15 to $50 per 1000 subscribers or listeners through ads.

As of June 2024, AdvertiseCast (now Libsyn) reported average podcast ad rates of $25 per 1000 listeners for a 60-second ad and $18 per 1000 listeners for a 30-second ad²⁰.

Podchaser reported the following average rates²¹ as of May 2024.

• The average 15-25 second pre-roll ad spot had a $15 CPM.
• The average 30-60 second mid-roll ad spot had a $30 CPM.
• The average 15-25 second post-roll (also known as an “end-roll”) ad spot had a $10 CPM.

In November 2023, Acast reported that the average CPM of podcast ads was between $15 to $30 for pre-recorded ads up to 60 seconds²². 

Meanwhile, host-read sponsorships had a CPM of between $25 and $40.

Paid Podcast Statistics

With platforms like Spotify for Podcasters and Patreon, it's never been easier for podcasters to make money from subscriptions and more.

Most podcasters charge between $3 and $20 per month for subscriptions²³.

Podcast creators monetizing through Patreon can earn $4,000 per month from 1,000 subscribers.

The top 10 podcasters on Supercast, a podcast subscription platform, earn over $21 million a year from listener subscriptions²⁴.

Key podcasts that have experienced notable growth on the platform include America's #1 health and fitness podcast, Huberman Lab Podcast which experienced 400% growth in its first year.

There were over 16,200 paid podcast creators with at least 1 paying member on Patreon as of June 2024²⁵, up from 15,251 in 2023. 

There were over 2.2 million paid memberships in the podcast category, up close to 1000% from 206,291 memberships in 2017. Estimated monthly payouts from podcasts amounted to over $3.44 million, up nearly 400% from monthly payments of  $786,136 in 2017. 

Podcast Creator Statistics

While interviews have been the most popular podcast format, solo shows are gaining momentum²⁶. In 2024, 43% of aspiring podcasters plan to release solo episodes.

Interviews are in second place with 29% of aspiring podcasters planning to use the format this year. This is followed by the co-host and roundtable formats at 23% and 5% respectively.

In line with industry averages, a majority of aspiring podcasters (53%) will aim for episodes 20-40 minutes long. 

55% also plan to publish weekly, followed by 15% who plan to follow a fortnightly schedule.

Podcast creators can expect to pay anywhere between $100 and $5000 to start a podcast²⁷ in 2024. 

We’ve summarized findings from a Riverside study in the table below:

A 2023 survey of over 1200 podcast creators had the following insights to share about podcast success²⁸:

• 35% of podcasters emphasized the importance of playing the long game.
• 19% agreed on the importance of good planning.
• 14% agreed on the importance of good equipment.

According to a 2022 Simplecast report, podcast creators were more likely to be men between the ages of 25-44.²⁹

The same report found that podcast creators were more likely to:

• Have a four-year college degree.
• Have full-time jobs.
• Live in high-earning households ($100,000/year).
• Work from home.
• Identify as white (51%) then Hispanic(24%) or African-American (14%).

A 2022 Podchaser report revealed that Wednesdays and Thursdays were the most popular days for publishing podcasts³⁰.

Meanwhile, weekends saw a massive dip in publishing, with Saturday being the least popular day for new uploads.

A 2022 survey revealed that close to 40% of podcast creators started one as a hobby³¹, while 21% said they wanted to start a personal brand.

A further 20% wanted to grow their own business and just under 14% started a podcast for activism purposes.

The same survey found that 50% of podcast creators struggled most with promoting their podcasts.

This was followed by:

• Ideas, scripting, and episode planning - 17.9%
• Editing - 13.4%
• Scheduling - 9.2%

In order of importance, podcasters measured success by:

1. A spike in download numbers
2. Emails from listeners
3. Positive ratings and reviews
4. Positive social media feedback
5. New subscribers or financial backers

Podcast Promotion Statistics

What do podcasters do to get (and keep!) listeners? Below, we explore some of the key strategies and tactics used to promote and grow podcasts.

Podcast Social Marketing

Whether it's leveraging the viral nature of short-form video on TikTok, or taking advantage of Instagram or Facebook’s massive user bases, social media is one of the most powerful ways to maximize podcast visibility.

Key strategies include:

• Sharing Episode snippets (audio or video)
• Posting Guest features
• Jumping on Trends (where appropriate)

With over 94% of consumers³² engaging with a social platform monthly, social media ads are among the top ways for podcasters to gain listeners.

Since 2020, the percentage of consumers discovering podcasts via ads and sponsored content on podcasts has increased to over 10%.

Paid ads on social media can cost anywhere between $15 to $200 a day or $450 to $6,000 per month.

The table below shows the potential ad reach for the leading social media platforms as of April 2024. 

Podcast Content Marketing 

Another way for podcasters to stand out is through written content. By providing transcripts or repurposing podcast content into blogs, articles, and more, podcasters can increase their search engine visibility and reach across multiple platforms.

Podcast Transcripts

As of March 2022, only 1% of podcasts³⁴ offered transcripts.

Podcasters adding transcripts set themselves apart from the competition and meet the growing need for podcast accessibility. In a 2021 survey, over 50% of podcast listeners considered podcast accessibility important.

In 2019, Moz ran an experiment where it added podcast transcripts to a podcast with an existing blog. 

The podcast saw a 15% increase in organic traffic and a 50% keyword lift in 3 months³⁵.

Podcast Blogs

Podcast blogs repurpose content into new, engaging content, boosting SEO efforts and searchability. 

According to Hubspot, blogging results in 55% more website visitors and an average of 67% more leads monthly³⁶.

Podcast Email Marketing 

With open rates of up to 45% compared to 10% for social media, email marketing is another powerful way for podcasters to promote their podcasts and build deeper connections with listeners. In fact, 40% of podcasters agree that a podcaster needs to run an email list for targeted promotions.

Beyond driving clicks to new episodes, podcasting newsletters are effective for:

• Offering exclusive content
• Promoting affiliate links or sponsors
• Upselling free subscribers
• Promoting referrals 

27% of creators who used email marketing (particularly newsletters) in 2023 had the best engagement with their audiences³⁷.

In 2024, 11% of creators plan to prioritize email engagement in 2024, while 27% plan to start a newsletter.

According to a 2024 Mailmodo report, the preference for email among consumers was 75% in 2024³⁸, up from 42% in 2021.

Newsletters were the most common email marketing campaign in 2023, with 16.8% of respondents sending them.

A 2023 Get Response report analyzed over 7 billion emails and found that the average open rate for all email newsletters was 27.9%³⁹.

This was 1.5x higher than the previous year's open rate of 19.3% and slightly higher than the average open rate of 26.8% for emails in all industries. 

In the same report: 

• The average click-through rate was 2.19%, higher than the average click-through rate of 1.89% for emails in all industries.
• The average click-to-open rate was 7.84%, higher than the average click-to-open rate of 7.01% for emails in all industries.
• The average unsubscribe rate was 0.09%, slightly lower than the average unsubscribe rate of 0.1% for emails in all industries.

Podcast Video Marketing 

Online videos reach over 92% of global internet users⁴⁰.

Additionally, 73% of consumers prefer to watch a short video over reading text. They’re also twice as likely to share videos over any other type of online content.

As a promotional tool, video lends itself well to podcasts. Not only do videos offer a new avenue for engagement, but they’re also shareable for even greater reach across social platforms.

It's no wonder:

• 88% of marketers consider video a crucial part of their marketing strategy⁴¹.
• 87% of marketers say video has helped them increase leads and sales.

Monetize Your Podcast With Whop

Whop is a social commerce platform, and with Whop it's easy to make money with your podcast.

From creating a paid community, publishing premium content, to selling your digital products, you can do it all with Whop. Sign up and increase your podcast revenue with ease.

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