There are so many podcast statistics, facts and trends circulating, from listener numbers to industry size. It's hard to know where to start. So, to make your life easy, I thought I'd bring as many podcast industry stats together here, for your reading pleasure.
I'll keep this article up to date as new reports come out. Therefore, below, you should find the latest numbers, according to the podcast industry.
So, let's get into it. Here are the questions we'll cover. Take your pick!
Table of Contents
How Many Podcasts Are There, Right Now?
In total, how many podcasts are there in the world? This includes ALL shows, from 1 episode podfaders to 1000+ episode legends.
There are 4,449,114 total podcasts registered, around the world.
podcastindex.org – December 2021
This is up from 4,180,000 (+6%) in September 2021. Interestingly, there's a trend, now, towards podcasts not being listed on Apple Podcasts, first. This could indicate a move away from the podcasting giant as podcasters go direct to other platforms, such as Spotify.
Apple Podcasts hosts 2,395,995 podcasts as of December 2021
My Podcast Reviews stats, via Apple Podcast statisticsLet Alitu Take Care of Producing Your Podcast
Alitu is a tool that takes your recording, polishes it up, adds your music, and publishes the episode, all automatically.
This is up from 2,332,900 (+2%) in September 2021. To show growth over the past few years, here's what Apple announced at WWDC in 2018:
In 2018 there were 550,000 active podcasts on iTunes
Apple, WWDC 2018
How Many Podcast Episodes Are There?
In this case, we're going by industry estimates here, rather than solid facts:
There are currently over 59,491,583 episodes published in Apple Podcasts, as of Dec 2021
MyPodcastReviews.com stats, via Apple Podcast statistics
This is up from 52,990,000 (+12%) in June 2021. Again, to compare, these stats came from Apple at WWDC in 2018:
In 2018 there were 18.5 millions episodes published, total
Apple, WWDC 2018
How Many Active Podcasts are There?
The stats show that 59% of the podcasts on Apple Podcasts are currently active. That means they've released a new episode in the past 90 days. That means that:
There are currently 548,447 active podcasts on Apple Podcasts, as of Dec 2021
MyPodcastReviews.com stats, via Apple Podcast stats
This is down from 755,715 in June 2021.
The percentage of active podcasts has dropped from 34% in June 2021 to 23% in December 2021.
This seems a pretty massive drop in activity, over just 6 months…
The number of active podcasts on Apple Podcasts has dropped from 990,000 in Dec 2020 to 548,447 in December 2021.
Here are the recent stats, which show a decreasing trend:
- December 2020: 59% active podcasts
- March 2021: 37% active podcasts
- June 2021: 34% active podcasts
- December 2021: 23% active podcasts
As to what's causing this… there was certainly a huge increase in new podcasts during the early stages of the pandemic. 2020 was a bumper year for growth as potential podcasters found more time and space to create, and therefore turned into active podcasters. Combine that with companies turning more to digital to either market themselves, or to communicate with staff, and you have a podcasting growth spiral the likes of which we've never seen.
But, now… 18 months in, pandemic stubbornly refusing to die and many back to normal work… a lot of those podcasters have lost enthusiasm, and internal podcasting projects have been abandoned. So, the 2020 boom raised our numbers, and now many of those shows have turned inactive.
How Many People Listen to Podcasts in 2021?
Familiarity is one thing, but actually taking action on it is another. So, how many people have actually gone ahead and listened to a podcast? These are from the latest Infinite Dial stats, released early 2021.
57% of people in the US have listened to a Podcast, at least once
Up from 55% in 2020
Infinite Dial 2021
What Does this Mean?
Infinite Dial analyzes listenership in steps: have ever listened to a podcast, monthly, and weekly. The gap between listenership and familiarity has often seemed insurmountable. How do we get the people who are familiar with the term to become interested in trying a podcast, or invested enough to learn how to listen? What kind of tools can we use to get them there?
Listenership continues to grow, with a 2% climb in the past year. This is slower than previous years' growth, but still a steady increase.
How Many People Know What a Podcast Is?
There continues to be good growth in the simple act of knowing what a podcast is, year on year:
78% of people in the US are familiar with the concept of Podcasting
Up from 75% in 2020
Infinite Dial 2021
What Does this Mean?
“Familiarity” doesn’t necessarily mean that the respondent has listened to a podcast, or even really knows how podcasts work, but that they have been exposed to the term.
As podcasts grow in their references in more traditional media and enter general conversations, so too will we see growth in familiarity; it’s a good benchmark for analyzing entry into the mainstream consciousness and out of the podcaster bubble. Indeed, this year, familiarity continues to rise at a rapid pace, with more than 3 out of 4 of all Americans now aware of the term “podcast”.
How Many People Listen to Podcasts on a Monthly Basis?
Both monthly and weekly listenership grew as well.
41% of people in the US (12+) listened in the last month
Up from 37% in 2020
Infinite Dial 2021
28% of people in the US (12+) listened in the last week
Up from 24% in 2020
Infinite Dial 2021
What Does This Mean?
This year, we saw another 4% gain in monthly listening, only 1% down on last year's strong 5% increase. So, continued steady growth in more regular listening. Given that overall listenership hasn't grown as strongly, this might show a move towards increased engagement in existing listeners, while new listener growth declines.
UK Podcast Statistics
How Many People Listen to Podcasts in the UK?
Let's break out the UK podcast statistics, based on the recent Ofcom survey, in April 2021, and Rajar's regular survey. The situation in the UK is a little different, with lower listening stats across the board. But, the UK is seeing good growth in weekly podcast listening, year on year.
50% of adults in the UK have listened to a podcast
Ofcom podcast survey, April 2021
25% of adults in the UK are regular podcast listeners
Regular means once per week or more (Ofcom podcast survey, April 2021)
Weekly listening was only at 14% in 2019, and 18% in 2020, according to Rajar's Spring 2020 data, so this shows really good growth in UK listening numbers.
What Age Group Listens to Podcasts Most?
Taking a look, now at how listening stats differ across the ages. Do younger people listen more, or older? Let's take a look.
What do these Podcast Statistics Mean?
56% of 12 to 34 years olds listen to podcasts on a monthly basis, while only 26% of 55+ listen at the same frequency.
Infinite Dial 2021
It looks like podcasting is a young person's game! Proportionally, people in the 12 to 34 year old age group listen to podcasts more frequently than their older counterparts. Over a half of all 12 to 34 year olds listened to a show within the last month.
Overall we saw some significant increases this year, plus one drop. The age range of 12-34 continues to grow heavily, by a very strong 7%.
The segmentation still shows a steep drop-off in overall number of regular listeners once it hits the 55+ range (26% in 2021) even though that bracket does continue to increase their engagement (up 4% on last year.)
The surprising podcast stat of 2021 is a drop in listenership within the 35 to 54 age group. That's against the trend of the last few years. Or, it might just be a consequence of the weirdness of 2020. Anecdotally, we heard that listening declined in the middle age demographic because, as the world went remote, commuting time fell off a cliff.
How Many Podcasts do Listeners Consume Every Week?
Let's take a look at volume, next. How many podcasts do the most regular listeners, those that listen weekly, consume?
What do these Podcast Statistics Mean?
Podcast fans consume 8 episodes per week, on average
Infinite Dial 2021
The average weekly listener will consume 8 podcasts during their week. The most prolific listeners – a decent chunk at 11% – listen to 11 or more shows, every week. The deeper podcast statistics show that around half of all regular listeners will consume at least 4 or 5 shows every week, which is a significant amount of content.
How Many Listeners Do Podcasts Get on Average?
This is the number everyone cares about: how do you compare to other podcasters? Here are stats from Buzzsprout, one of the biggest Podcast Hosts in the world, on how many listeners podcasts tend to get.
Here is your position, based on downloads per episode within the first 7 days, as of October 2021:
- Top 1% of Podcasts > 3974
- Top 5% of Podcasts > 731
- Top 10% of Podcasts > 308
- Top 25% of Podcasts > 87
- Top 50% of Podcasts > 29
So, if you get 29 listens per episode, or more, you're about average!
Interestingly, here are the stats from the last two times I updated. It shows a pretty decent increase in the top 1%, as well as the rest, which confirms the stats above about more listeners coming to podcasting!
May 2021
- Top 1% of Podcasts > 3647
- Top 5% of Podcasts > 629
- Top 10% of Podcasts > 264
- Top 25% of Podcasts > 78
- Top 50% of Podcasts > 28
Feb 2021
- Top 1% of Podcasts > 3188
- Top 5% of Podcasts > 584
- Top 10% of Podcasts > 244
- Top 25% of Podcasts > 74
- Top 50% of Podcasts > 27
What are the Top Podcast Listening Apps (What do People Use to Listen to Podcasts?)
Everyone has to listen somehow! But what listening app do people use to listen, whether mobile or computer based? Apple Podcasts is still the leader, but Spotify is catching up quick.
Spotify is the most popular podcast listening app (31.2%).
Updated December 2021.
Apple Podcasts is in 2nd place (31.1%)
Here are the top 10, according to Buzzsprout's podcast statistics:
| Listening Provider | May 2021 (%) | October 2021 (%) |
| Spotify | 29.4 | 31.2 |
| Apple Podcasts | 29.8 | 31.1 |
| Web Browser | 2.6 | 2.6 |
| Google Podcasts | 2.7 | 2.4 |
| Castbox | 2.9 | 1.9 |
| Podcast Addict | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| Overcast | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Apple iTunes | 1.0 | 1.1 |
| Pocket Casts | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| Amazon Music | 0.9 | 0.7 |
There's an interesting trend here where the big daddy of the listening industry, Apple, dropped share during the middle of the year, but then gobbled it right back up again.
Apple Podcasts dropped nearly 3% over only 6 months (from 32.3% in Dec 2020 to 30.5% in March 2021 to 29.8% in June 2021) but gained most of that back, ending up at 31.1 in October.
While Spotify climbed nearly 4% in the same time, from 25.5% in Dec to 28.1% in March to 29.4% in June 2021. And now, ending up ahead of Apple, just, on 31.2%.
What Equipment Do Podcasters Most Commonly Use?
Finding the right podcast equipment is always an exciting job, but it can be daunting. So, what's the most popular gear out there? In Spring 2019 we published our latest findings around podcast equipment statistics: The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019. Here are some of the top line numbers:
Rode is the most popular microphone brand in Podcasting (19%) with Blue in 2nd place (17%)
The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019
The Blue Yeti (17%) is the most popular mic, with the Blue Snowball in 2nd place (9%)
The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019
35% of people use a dynamic mic, 29% use a condenser mic and 33% use a USB mic
(stats not mutually exclusive – the Blue Yeti is Condenser AND USB)
74% of podcasters record with headphones, while the rest choose not to monitor
The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019
You can also see 2018's podcast equipment stats here: Podcast Equipment Statistics: The Most Popular Equipment, Software & Tools
Do Podcasters Record Video Too?
In most cases, no! Again, these stats are from the Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019:
Only 17% of podcasters record video along with their podcast
The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019
Only 10% of podcasters live broadcast their podcast recording
The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019
What Software Do Podcasters Use?
There's definitely a big range of podcast software in use, by podcasters, but one option commands the bulk of podcast editing and recording usage:
48% of podcasters use Audacity to edit their podcast, with Adobe Audition in 2nd place (31%)
The Podcast Host Gear Survey 2019
How Long are Podcasts, on Average?
If you're trying to decide on how long your podcast should be, then it might help to get an answer to the question: how long is the average podcast?
The most common podcast length is between 20 and 40 minutes (31%)
Here are the stats from Buzzsprout, as of Feb 2021, drawing from 94,000+ active podcasts:
- Less than 10 minutes > 13%
- 10 – 20 minutes > 14%
- 20 – 40 minutes > 31%
- 40 – 60 minutes > 23%
- Over 60 minutes > 18%
Updated March 2021.
How Often Does the Average Podcast Publish an Episode?
Similarly, if you're asking, how often should I release my podcast, here's what Buzzsprout's Podcast statistics show about the average.
The most common podcast publishing frequency is every 8 to 14 days (39%)
Percentage of podcasts and the frequency by which they release episodes:
- 0 – 2 days > 7%
- 3 – 7 days > 36%
- 8 – 14 days > 39%
- 15 – 29 days > 16%
- Over 30 days > 1%
Updated March 2021.
How Do People Find New Podcasts to Listen To?
Let's find out how listeners are actually finding new shows:
- Search My Podcast App's Directory – 40%
- Directly Ask Someone I Know Who Likes the Same Stuff – 18.3%
- Ask on Social Media or Online Community – 15.2%
- Search on Google – 13.6%
- Browse Through a Podcast Chart or ‘Featured' Section– 13%
This was one result from The Podcast The Podcast Host Discoverability Survey. The report is essential reading for anyone who wants to grow an audience. It highlights the most effective areas to concentrate on when it comes to promotion and marketing.
We're always looking to run interesting new surveys too, so if there's any specific podcast data you'd like to see here in future be sure to give us a shout!
Where in the World is Podcasting Growing Fastest?
Voxnext released a set of podcast stats in 2019, which showed the countries in which podcasting is growing fastest. It makes for an interesting read:
Chile (83.9% growth)
Voxnest, March 2019
Argentina (55.28%)
Peru (49.1%)
Mexico (47.84%)
China (43.62%)
How Many People Listen to Spotify?
What should not be ignored when thinking about podcasting’s reach is Spotify’s growth as a recognizable audio brand, and how this plays into the podcasting surge.
Spotify have increased monthly listening by American audiences overall (24% of all people have listened in the last month, up from 20% in 2018) and especially by those people in the 12-34 age bracket (46%, up from 39 in 2018).
29% of people in the US (12+) have listened to Spotify in the last month
Up From 25% in 2020
Infinite Dial 2021
How Many People Listen to Podcasts on Spotify?
Leading on from Spotify's general growth, above, it seems that their work in podcasting has had a pretty big effect since they branched out into podcasting. The growth in podcast listening within the Spotify audience is huge.
53% of monthly Spotify Listeners, 12-24 years old, also listened to a Podcast in the last month
Up from 32% in 2018
Infinite Dial 2019
Podcast Statistics Takeaways
Podcast Growth is Accelerating
The biggest takeaway for advertisers is certainly that podcast listenership is growing steadily, and is not showing signs of plateauing; in fact, within some demographics, it is clearly accelerating. And those that aren't, might be readily explained through effects of the Pandemic in 2020.
Advertisers may also care about the growth of loyal listeners. The percentage of monthly and weekly listeners continues to grow, and now outpaces overall growth. This is good news for independent podcasters who are still looking for sustainable monetization via advertising.
Spotify is Creating New Podcast Listeners
The next biggest takeaway is that Spotify is still a serious boon for listenership. Spotify's market share continues to grow, and it's now swapping places with Apple on a monthly basis. Currently sitting right there at number 1! Even if just by 0.1%…
At the very least, podcasters: get your podcasts on Spotify if you haven’t already.
What Organisations are Collating Podcast Statistics?
The Infinite Dial report, a survey conducted by Edison Research and Triton Digital, is probably the most popular databank and survey on the state of Podcast industry statistics in the United States, especially audio. The Rajar Midas survey is the equivalent in the UK.
Infinite Dial has been conducted phone-based surveys since 1998, including podcasts since 2006–that means since nearly the inception of podcasting, making this incredibly valuable data. The respondent pool of 1500 is composed of people aged twelve and over, weighted against the US census data for population, and split proportionally between landlines and cell phones.
References
I've drawn from a range of great sources of Podcast Industry stats in this article, including:
What Our Readers Think About Podcast Statistics & Industry Trends (Dec 2021 Update)
Thanks for sharing a link!