Julia Stoll
Research expert covering TV and video media
Podcasting worldwide - statistics and facts
Getting informed about current events while walking the dog? Learning a new skill while doing housework? Getting thrilled to the bone by haunting crime stories while commuting? All this is made possible by a medium whose versatility and convenience played a crucial part in its growth from an exciting new media trend to a well-established component of the media landscape. Podcasts combine the creative world of books and other types of media with a convenience comparable to listening to music. They enable their listeners to consume content on anything, anywhere and anytime they want. In fact, as of April 2025, podcast consumers had a worldwide supply of over 3.5 million podcasts with a total of more than 175 million episodes to choose from.
While hosts and publishers are responsible for the content and the creation of podcasts, streaming platforms are the ones making the content available to millions of listeners every day. Being available on a number of different streaming services, such as Spotify and Audible as well as other media giants like Apple and Google, is one of the main reasons why podcasts have become the convenient and accessible medium they are today. Furthermore, the rising interest in video podcasts boosted the popularity of YouTube as the primary streaming platform for this medium.
Overall, podcasts have managed to establish their place within the media landscape and have developed into a crucial part of the audio industry in recent years. Thanks to their content diversity as well as their ease of use, podcasts are becoming an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives. Forecasts suggest that the podcast industry will grow further, especially if the medium manages to reach new unexplored demographics and underperforming regions, and keeps attracting new consumers with the establishment of video podcasts.
Popular podcast platforms and publishers
The most popular podcast publisher worldwide is iHeart Audience Network with over 600 million unique streams and downloads. The media company had initially started its business in radio broadcasting and later expanded its offer to publishing podcasts. Podcast publishers meet their customers’ demand and offer podcast content in every imaginable genre. In fact, right after news, comedy, society and culture, and true crime podcasts belong to the most popular genres among listeners in the United States.While hosts and publishers are responsible for the content and the creation of podcasts, streaming platforms are the ones making the content available to millions of listeners every day. Being available on a number of different streaming services, such as Spotify and Audible as well as other media giants like Apple and Google, is one of the main reasons why podcasts have become the convenient and accessible medium they are today. Furthermore, the rising interest in video podcasts boosted the popularity of YouTube as the primary streaming platform for this medium.
Podcast consumers – an audience in transition
The global number of podcast listeners, is expected to surpass 600 million listeners worldwide in 2026, with continued growth predicted further on. This growth potential can be achieved through yet unexplored audiences. Over the last few years, podcasts have overall been a medium enjoyed by younger generations. For example, around half of U.S. Americans below the age of 55 listen to podcasts at least once a week, whereas older generations fall short of these figures as yet. This is where the potential lies for the industry, in encouraging and capturing the attention of the older generations. Likewise, the consumption of podcasts has not yet developed equally everywhere around the globe. Whereas data on overall podcast consumption from 2022 suggested that the share of podcast listenership is still relatively low in populous regions like South-east Asia, several markets in that region ranked at the top when it came to shares of weekly podcast consumers in 2025. There, other markets, predominantly in Europe, saw potential for growth.Overall, podcasts have managed to establish their place within the media landscape and have developed into a crucial part of the audio industry in recent years. Thanks to their content diversity as well as their ease of use, podcasts are becoming an integral part of consumers’ everyday lives. Forecasts suggest that the podcast industry will grow further, especially if the medium manages to reach new unexplored demographics and underperforming regions, and keeps attracting new consumers with the establishment of video podcasts.
