The U.S. is one of the countries where podcasting is most popular. The Statista Global Consumer Survey of people in 54 countries unveils where the medium has seen the biggest inroads, and which parts of the world where it remains a small part of the media habit.
Sweden ranks in first place when it comes to podcast consumption, with nearly half (47%) of Swedes surveyed claiming they listened to at least one podcast in the last 12 months. Ireland and Brazil were the only other countries where podcast listening topped 40%, according to Statista. In the United States, it says a third (34%) of the people surveyed said they had listened to a podcast in the prior 12 months. The U.K. was not far behind at 31%.
Statista says podcast is still small in Asia. “While China still has 19 percent share of podcast listeners among participants, Japan comes in dead last behind Taiwan, Malaysia and Pakistan,” it says in a blog post. “Only five percent of people polled in the East Asian island nation claimed to have listened to podcasts in the last twelve months.”
The Statista Global Consumer Survey is based on surveys of between 1,000 and 5,700 people aged 18 to 64 in each of the 54 countries. The surveys were done between Feb. 2020 and June 2021. The information was released in honor of International Podcast Day, which is Sept. 30.
