What is Happening?

31% of internet users have listened to a podcast in the past month, according to research across 20 markets. Podcasts prove most popular in Ireland, where 41% of the online population listen.

This is followed by:

• Spain (38%)
• Sweden (37%)
• Norway (37%)
• and the United States (37%).

In comparison, just 22% of the online UK population listen to podcasts and only one-quarter do the same in Japan (25%) and Germany (25%).

Research suggests that the lower figures in these markets may be because people are consuming content from public service radio apps, like the BBC in the UK.

What Does it Mean?

The battle is heating up for social audio and podcast platforms as they race to create better solutions to fulfil the needs of advertisers who want to invest more into highly engaged audiences.

This is seen clearly as COVID has prompted greater experimentation with channels that brands have never used before, including podcasts.

🎧 WARC Data has found that that internet users worldwide spend 55 minutes consuming podcast content each day, equal to a 27% share of audio activity.