Audio consumption spans broadcast radio, streaming music, podcasts, audiobooks and connected-car listening. The latest supplied evidence covers 2024 and 2025 surveys, global recorded-music revenue, and World Health Organization estimates and forecasts, with measures ranging from reach to clinical burden.
Key Audio Consumption Statistics
The most useful headline measures are:
- In 2025, 93% of UK adults aged 16 and over listened to some form of audio content each week.
- In January 2025, 79% of Americans aged 12 and over, or an estimated 228 million people, listened to online audio monthly.
- In January 2025, 55% of Americans aged 12 and over consumed podcasts monthly.
- In January 2025, 70% of Americans aged 12 and over had ever listened to a podcast.
- In Q1 2025, 22% of UK adults aged 15 and over had weekly podcast reach.
- In 2025, 64% of UK podcast listeners spent more than three hours per week listening.
- In 2025, 17% of UK podcast listeners spent at least ten hours per week listening.
- In 2025, 60% of UK podcast listeners said they spent more time listening than a year earlier.
- In 2025, 33% of US weekly podcast listeners used YouTube most often to listen.
- Between 2018 and 2024, streaming music’s share of UK in-car listening rose by 8 percentage points.
- Between 2018 and 2024, radio’s share of UK in-car listening fell by 7 percentage points.
- In January 2025, 33% of recent US drivers and riders actively used Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.
- In 2025, 51% of UK online-music listeners used Spotify weekly.
- In 2025, 39% of UK audiobook listeners used Audible weekly.
- In 2024, streaming represented 69.0% of global recorded-music revenue.
- At the end of 2024, there were 752 million paid music-streaming subscription accounts globally.
- In 2024, global recorded-music revenue grew 4.8%.
- In 2025, more than 1 billion people aged 12–35 were estimated to be at risk of hearing loss from recreational loud-sound exposure.
- By 2050, nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss.
Contents
- Audio consumption reach
- Online music and streaming trends
- Podcast consumption and behavior
- Radio, smart speakers and in-car listening
- Audio platform use
- Music-market scale
- Safe listening and hearing outcomes
Audio Consumption Reach Statistics
The broadest measure in the UK is weekly reach, not hours listened. Ofcom’s 2025 Audio Survey found that 93% of UK adults aged 16 and over listened to some form of audio content each week, covering radio, streaming and other audio rather than a single platform. Audio Listening in the UK 2025
The same survey found podcast reach at 22% of UK adults in 2025. Ofcom said this measure appeared to be stabilising, and its first reach question changed to online-only in 2025, so comparisons with the 2024 Audio Report require caution.
The US measure uses a different population and monthly definition. The January 2025 Infinite Dial survey reported 79% of Americans aged 12 and over, or an estimated 228 million people, listening to online audio monthly; the study described this as a record in its annual series. The Infinite Dial 2025
These figures should not be combined into one global audience estimate: the countries, age bases, periods and reach definitions differ. The UK figure is weekly audio reach, while the US figure is monthly online-audio reach.
Online Music and Streaming Audio Trends
In-car listening shows how audio choices have shifted across formats in the UK. Between 2018 and 2024, streaming music’s share of time spent listening in cars rose 8 percentage points, while radio’s share fell 7 percentage points and the combined share for CDs and cassettes fell 3 percentage points.
These are shares of in-car listening time, not reach or total listening hours. Audio Listening in the UK 2025
| UK in-car listening measure | Period | Reported change |
|---|---|---|
| Streaming music share | 2018–2024 | +8 percentage points |
| Radio share | 2018–2024 | −7 percentage points |
| CDs and cassettes combined | 2018–2024 | −3 percentage points |
The pattern indicates a change in the composition of listening time, but it does not establish how many hours people listened or why the mix changed. It also should not be read as a direct measure of all UK audio consumption.
Podcast Consumption Statistics and Audience Behavior
Podcast measurement includes several distinct stages: ever listening, monthly use, weekly reach, audio or video consumption, and time spent. In the US, 70% of people aged 12 and over had ever listened to a podcast in January 2025, while 55% were monthly podcast consumers; 73%, or an estimated 210 million people, had consumed a podcast in audio or video format. The Infinite Dial 2025
Video exposure is substantial but is not the same as audio-only listening. In the same January 2025 US survey, 51% of people aged 12 and over had watched a podcast, and 48% had both listened to and watched one.
| Podcast measure | Population and period | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Ever listened | US age 12+, January 2025 | 70% |
| Monthly consumer | US age 12+, January 2025 | 55% |
| Audio or video consumer | US age 12+, January 2025 | 73% / 210 million |
| Watched a podcast | US age 12+, January 2025 | 51% |
| Both listened and watched | US age 12+, January 2025 | 48% |
UK weekly reach in Q1 2025 was 22% among adults aged 15 and over. Reach was 30% among adults aged 35–44, 28% among those aged 25–34 and 12% among adults aged 65 and over; RAJAR methodology changes after the pandemic affect comparisons. Media Nations 2025 – UK Report
Among UK podcast listeners in 2025, 64% reported more than three hours of listening per week, 17% reported at least ten hours, 60% said they listened more than a year earlier, and 74% said they had binge-listened. These are self-reported behaviors, and “binge-listened” had no supplied universal threshold. Media Nations 2025 – UK Report
Platform choice also varies by base. YouTube was the most-often-used platform for 33% of US weekly podcast listeners in 2025, while monthly podcast consumption was 57% among US men and 52% among US women aged 12 and over. The Infinite Dial 2025
Radio, Smart-Speaker and In-Car Audio Listening
Connected devices and cars create conditional audiences, so the denominator matters. In January 2025, 88% of US adults had driven or ridden in a car during the previous month; among those recent drivers and riders, 40% had Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and 33% actively used one of them. The Infinite Dial 2025
| Connected-car measure | US recent drivers/riders, January 2025 |
|---|---|
| Have Apple CarPlay or Android Auto | 40% |
| Actively use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto | 33% |
| Have Apple CarPlay | 28% |
| Actively use Apple CarPlay | 22% |
| Have Android Auto | 19% |
| Actively use Android Auto | 13% |
Availability is higher than active use for both systems: Apple CarPlay was available to 28% and actively used by 22%, while Android Auto was available to 19% and actively used by 13%. These are self-reported measures among recent drivers or riders, not all US adults.
In the UK, 71% of voice-assistant users used the assistant to listen to both radio and other audio such as music streaming or podcasts. Among voice-assistant users who listened to radio, 54% made radio requests using a smart speaker and 20% used a smartphone for voice requests; these conditional groups are not all-adult measures. Audio Listening in the UK 2025
Audio Platform Use Across Music, Radio and Audiobooks
Ofcom’s 2025 UK figures report weekly platform use within specific listener groups. The percentages below are not market shares of all adults and are not shares of listening time.
| Listener group | Weekly platform | Share in 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Online-radio listeners | BBC Sounds | 46% |
| Online-music listeners | Spotify | 51% |
| Online-music listeners | YouTube | 50% |
| Podcast listeners | Spotify | 37% |
| Podcast listeners | YouTube | 34% |
| Audiobook listeners | Audible | 39% |
| Background music-video listeners | YouTube | 74% |
The highest supplied platform figure is 74% for YouTube among UK background music-video listeners, a category defined as people using music-video websites or apps for background listening. The 39% Audible figure applies only to audiobook listeners, while the Spotify and YouTube podcast figures apply only to podcast listeners. Media Nations 2025 – UK Report
Global Music Streaming Market Statistics
Industry revenue provides a financial view of audio’s scale, but it is not equivalent to listening time or unique listeners. IFPI reported that global recorded-music revenue grew 4.8% in 2024, with streaming accounting for 69.0% of recorded-music revenue and streaming revenue itself increasing 9.5%. IFPI Industry Data
At the end of 2024, the recorded-music industry had 752 million paid music-streaming subscription accounts globally. Accounts are not necessarily unique people, and the scope is recorded-music subscriptions rather than every audio service.
| Global recorded-music measure | 2024 result |
|---|---|
| Total recorded-music revenue growth | 4.8% year over year |
| Streaming share of recorded-music revenue | 69.0% |
| Streaming revenue growth | 9.5% year over year |
| Paid music-streaming subscription accounts | 752 million at year-end |
The figures describe recorded-music industry revenue and paid accounts. They should not be presented as total audio consumption, a count of unique listeners, or a direct measure of podcast, radio or audiobook use.
Audio Consumption, Safe Listening and Hearing Outcomes
Hearing statistics describe clinical burden, projected need or loud-sound risk; they are not direct measures of listening volume. The World Health Organization estimated in 2025 that more than 1 billion people aged 12–35 were at risk of hearing loss from recreational exposure to loud sound. Making listening safe
The WHO also estimates that 430 million people, including 34 million children, require rehabilitation for disabling hearing loss. More than 5% of the world’s population falls within that rehabilitation-need estimate, and nearly 80% of people with disabling hearing loss live in low- and middle-income countries. Deafness and hearing loss
Several figures describe future health-system demand rather than current audio behavior:
- Nearly 2.5 billion people are projected to have some degree of hearing loss by 2050.
- More than 700 million people are projected to require hearing rehabilitation by 2050.
- Around 95.1 million children aged 5–19 currently live with hearing loss worldwide, according to the WHO estimate.
- More than 25% of people older than 60 are affected by disabling hearing loss in the WHO estimate.
- Nearly 60% of hearing loss in children is attributed to avoidable causes in the WHO estimate, which covers all preventable causes rather than recreational listening alone.
The economic measures are similarly broad. The WHO estimates that unaddressed hearing loss costs almost US$1 trillion annually, while scaling up ear and hearing care services globally would require less than US$1.40 per person per year in additional investment; it models nearly a 16-to-1 return over 10 years for every US dollar invested.
These are health-system estimates and modeled returns, not consumer spending or observed causal outcomes for audio listeners. Deafness and hearing loss