Where Podcasts Are Most Popular

September 30th is International Podcast Day, celebrating the digital broadcasting format that has risen from a hobbyist endeavour to a veritable source of income for businesses and content creators alike. As data from our Statista Global Consumer Survey shows, the festivities are likely to be more lively in specific countries.

According to surveys of 1,000 to 5,700 respondents per country, Sweden sits in first place out of 54 countries when it comes to podcast consumption, with 47 percent of respondents claiming they listened to at least one podcast in the last 12 months. Countries with such high numbers are few and far between though. Next to Sweden, only Ireland and Brazil are home to more than 40 percent of participants indulging in podcasts.

In the UK and the U.S., about a third of respondents are podcast listeners, while countries in the Eastern hemisphere score comparatively lower. While China still has 19 percent share of podcast listeners among participants, Japan comes in dead last behind Taiwan, Malaysia and Pakistan. Only five percent of people polled in the East Asian island nation claimed to have listened to podcasts in the last twelve months.

Although podcasting as a business is on the rise, it still makes up only a fraction of global media income. According to company financial results, the three biggest dedicated podcast services Stitcher, Wondery and LibSyn accumulated roughly $122 million in revenue in 2019.