Podcast listening in the UK has more than doubled since 2019
Key Points
- Monthly UK podcast listening rose from 18% in 2019 to 39%, Ofcom said.
- Podcasts now make up 11% of UK listening time, up from 5% in 2022.
- News and current affairs is the top genre among weekly listeners at 47%.
- 45% of listeners say podcasts carry too many adverts.
- 64% of people mainly use their mobile phone to access podcasts.
Monthly podcast listening in the UK has risen from 18% to 39% since 2019, Ofcom has revealed.
The regulator released the figures on Wednesday (30 September) to mark International Podcast Day, drawing on its Media Nations 2026 research.
Including video podcasts pushes monthly reach up to 43%, while 27% of UK adults now listen to podcasts every week.
Podcasts also claim a growing share of listening time, climbing from 5% in 2022 to 11% in 2026.
Ofcom said people under 35 were the early adopters a decade ago, but podcasts now have higher-than-average reach among 45 to 54-year-olds.
Weekly reach among people aged 65 and over now stands at 13%. Men listen slightly more than women, with 29% of men and 24% of women tuning in each week.
News tops the charts
Among weekly listeners, news and current affairs is the most popular genre at 47%, ahead of entertainment at 44%, comedy at 41%, and discussions and talk shows at 40%.
Listeners aged 18 to 34 favour entertainment and comedy, while those aged 55 and over lean towards news, current affairs and politics.
Football podcasts reach 31% of weekly listeners, but the figure climbs to 45% among men and drops to just 14% among women.
Ofcom said 15% of people got election-related news through radio or podcasts during the 2026 local and devolved elections.
Listeners will pay but want fewer adverts
Overall, 35% of listeners said they would happily pay to subscribe to their favourite podcasts, a share that has held steady for several years.
Almost half (48%) of 16 to 34-year-olds said they would pay, compared with only 16% of those aged 55 and over.
A growing 45% of podcast listeners said the shows they follow carry too many adverts, a figure that has risen over the past five years.
Over two-thirds (68%) of podcast listeners said they listen to podcasts that also have video, with the habit more common among 16 to 34-year-olds.
A further 44% of people said they found podcasts with video more engaging.
Mobile phones are the main way 64% of people access podcasts, well ahead of computers and laptops at 13%.
Other devices trail further behind, with TVs at 10%, tablets at 8% and voice-enabled speakers at 5%.
