Contents
- Podcast listening statistics: how many people listen and how often?
- Podcast listening statistics by age and audience group
- Podcast listening statistics for audio, video and time spent
- Podcast listening statistics: when and where people listen
- Podcast listening statistics on motivations and popular subjects
- Podcast listening statistics on news habits and engagement
- Sources
Podcast listening statistics: how many people listen and how often?
Podcast consumption has reached a new high in the United States, though the size of the audience depends on how the question is framed. In The Infinite Dial 2026, 80% of Americans age 12 and older—230 million people—said they had ever listened to or watched a podcast. The more recent-use measures are smaller: 58%, or 167 million, had consumed a podcast in the last month, and 45%, or 130 million, in the last week. These measures distinguish having ever tried a podcast from recent listening or viewing. The Infinite Dial 2026
A separate Pew survey offers a longer time window for U.S. adults. In August 2025, 54% said they had listened to a podcast in the past 12 months, up from 49% in 2022. The figures should not be directly treated as a single continuous trend with Edison’s 2026 results: the age base and recall period differ. One covers adults and past-year listening; the other includes people age 12 and older and reports ever, monthly and weekly consumption. Pew Research Center, Podcasts and News Fact Sheet
Frequency data gives another view of regular use. In Pew’s December 2022 survey, about one in five U.S. podcast listeners—roughly 10% of all U.S. adults—listened nearly every day. Another 22% of podcast listeners tuned in a few times a week, while 66% listened at least a few times a month. These results describe a range of habits among people who had listened in the past year, rather than the whole adult population. Pew Research Center, How Americans Use and Engage with Podcasts
Podcast listening statistics by age and audience group
Podcast use is not confined to younger adults, but age differences appear in both U.S. and U.K. measures. Pew found that 67% of U.S. adults ages 18–29 had listened to a podcast in the past 12 months in 2025. The share was 62% among adults ages 30–49, 50% among those 50–64, and 33% among adults 65 and older. These are past-year figures from a survey conducted August 18–24, 2025. Pew Research Center, Podcasts and News Fact Sheet
Edison’s 2026 measure uses a different age band and a monthly window: 68% of Americans ages 35–54 had consumed a podcast in the last month. That result reinforces the importance of reading the age group and period alongside the percentage; it cannot be substituted for the past-year rate among adults ages 30–49.
In Ofcom’s 2026 summary of UK podcast use, reach among people aged 65 and older was 13%; the cited passage does not specify a listening frequency for that figure. Weekly listening was reported by 29% of UK men and 24% of UK women. These differences describe the reported UK audience measures, not an explanation for why listening varies by age or gender. Ofcom, International Podcast Day – taking a look at our listening habits
Podcast listening statistics for audio, video and time spent
Podcast consumption increasingly includes video, but video access does not mean every listener watches. In the U.S., 57% of Americans age 12 and older had both listened to and watched a podcast by the time of Edison’s 2026 report. In the UK, Ofcom reported that monthly podcast consumption reached 43% when video podcast viewing was included in its 2026 Media Nations summary. The U.S. measure is ever having done both; the UK figure is monthly consumption including video, so they are not directly comparable. Edison Research, The Infinite Dial 2026 · Ofcom, International Podcast Day – taking a look at our listening habits
Ofcom’s survey of UK weekly podcast listeners helps show how audio and video coexist. In 2026, 68% said they listened to podcasts that include video. Among the 988 respondents who listened to podcasts with video, 39% preferred audio-only content for most of their podcast listening, 27% preferred watching when a video version was available, 26% often played the video without actively watching it, and 8% had no preference. The figures point to flexible use of video-enabled shows: for many, video is present without being the main way they consume the podcast. Ofcom, Audio listening in the UK 2026, p. 12, fig. 9
Weekly hours are available for a specific U.S. group in SSRS’s 2023 Gen Z report. Gen Z monthly podcast listeners who said they started listening as children consumed 10.6 hours per week, compared with 6.6 hours among those who began as adults. These figures apply only to those subgroups of Gen Z monthly listeners; they are not estimates for all young people. The report also found that 84% of Gen Z monthly listeners had ever consumed a podcast with a video component. SSRS, Gen Z Podcast Listener Report
Podcast listening statistics: when and where people listen
UK weekly podcast listeners reported fitting podcasts into a mix of quiet and active moments. In Ofcom’s 2026 survey of 1,502 weekly listeners, 49% usually listened at home while relaxing. Walking was reported by 38%, housework by 37%, and travelling in a car by 33%. Public transport was a usual listening setting for 26%, while 25% listened at bedtime or before going to sleep. Ofcom, Audio listening in the UK 2026, p. 13, fig. 10
Other activities were less commonly selected, but still show how listening can accompany a routine. Nineteen percent usually listened while at work, including working from home, and the same share listened while doing other exercise. Sixteen percent listened to help them go to sleep or return to sleep, and 7% listened while cycling. Respondents could identify multiple settings, so the percentages are not intended to add up to 100%. These are usual situations among weekly listeners, not a time diary or a measure of hours spent in each activity.
Podcast listening statistics on motivations and popular subjects
U.S. listeners in Pew’s December 2022 survey most often cited learning and entertainment as reasons for listening. Learning was a reason for 88% of adults who had listened to a podcast in the past year, including 55% who called it a major reason. Entertainment was a reason for 87%, including 60% who said it was a major reason. Having something to listen to in the background while doing something else was a reason for 81%. The survey distinguishes any reason from a major one; the two percentages for each primary motivation answer different questions. Pew Research Center, How Americans Use and Engage with Podcasts
In the UK, Ofcom’s 2026 summary reports the genres favored by people who listen at least weekly. News and current affairs led at 47%, followed by entertainment at 44%, comedy at 41%, and discussions and talk shows at 40%. Football podcasts reached 31% of weekly listeners. These are genre selections within the weekly-listener group, not shares of the entire UK population, and listeners may choose more than one subject. Ofcom, International Podcast Day – taking a look at our listening habits
Podcast listening statistics on news habits and engagement
Podcast news use is narrower than general podcast listening. In Pew’s August 2025 survey, 32% of U.S. adults said they got news from podcasts at least sometimes, including 10% who did so often. The question concerns news use, not whether respondents listen to any kind of podcast. Pew Research Center, Podcasts and News Fact Sheet
Among U.S. adults who ever got news from podcasts, 69% said they at least sometimes listened to podcasts that explain a news topic or issue in depth. Sixty-one percent at least sometimes listened to programs featuring hosts’ or guests’ opinions on the news, and 58% listened to podcasts that summarize the day’s major news stories. These formats overlap: the percentages show the reach of each type within the news-podcast audience, not exclusive audience segments. Pew Research Center, Podcasts and News Fact Sheet
Engagement can extend beyond listening. In Pew’s December 2022 survey, 67% of U.S. adults who had listened to a podcast in the past year said they had recommended one to someone else, and 52% had followed a podcast or its host on social media. Twenty-eight percent had bought something promoted or discussed on a podcast. These are self-reported actions among podcast listeners, not measures of all listeners’ purchasing behavior or of advertising effectiveness. Pew Research Center, How Americans Use and Engage with Podcasts
Direct payment for news podcasts was less common across the full U.S. adult population: 6% said they had paid or donated directly to a news-focused podcast in the past 12 months in Pew’s 2025 survey. This measure covers direct support for news podcasts, not subscriptions to all podcasts or broader paid audio services. Pew Research Center, Podcasts and News Fact Sheet