The UK podcast statistics for 2025, with source notes

The UK podcast statistics come from Ofcom's 2025 audio reports, RAJAR, IPA TouchPoints, Edison Podcast Metrics UK, and IAB UK. The headline figures measure different things. Weekly reach, monthly reach, service use, device choice, listening time, and advertising spend should remain separate rather than being merged into one audience number.

The cleanest 2025 audience headline is 22% weekly podcast reach among UK adults aged 15+ in RAJAR Q1 2025. IPA TouchPoints reported 35% monthly reach among adults aged 15+ across Great Britain using wave 2 2024 and wave 1 2025.

The UK podcast statistics at a glance

The audience values above were extracted from Ofcom's Audio Listening in the UK 2025 report and Media Nations 2025 UK report. The population and time period belong beside each percentage because a weekly survey estimate cannot replace a monthly one.

How the figures were measured

RAJAR's Q1 2025 figure uses average weekly reach among adults aged 15+ on a three-month weight. Ofcom warns that RAJAR suspended fieldwork after Q1 2020 and resumed in Q3 2021 with a changed method, so comparisons across that break need caution.

IPA TouchPoints uses a seven-day diary in half-hour intervals plus a self-completion questionnaire. Ofcom's Media Nations methodology annex says wave 2 2024 and wave 1 2025 form the 2025 Superhub. The combined sample was approximately 6,400 people aged 15+ across Great Britain. Its monthly reach figure was included to compare media activities, and Ofcom says it may differ from media-specific measures elsewhere in the report.

Ofcom's Podcast Survey used Yonder's online panel. The nationally representative sample of 2,368 included 506 non-users, 1,504 regular users, and 358 occasional users. Boost interviews increased the regular-user group. Results about services, activities, and genres often use the 1,504 weekly-listener base, while the video-preference chart uses 1,032 people who listen to podcasts that also have video.

Edison Podcast Metrics UK surveys at least 2,000 weekly podcast listeners aged 15+ each quarter. Ofcom used Edison for device, listening-time, and show-ranker evidence across networks, shows, and platforms.

Weekly reach by age and socio-economic group

RAJAR measured weekly reach at 22% among all adults aged 15+ in Q1 2025. The same chart reported:

These percentages describe reach within each group. They do not reveal an individual show's demographic mix, and they do not show how many episodes people completed.

IPA TouchPoints reported 43% monthly podcast reach among ages 15 to 24 in its 2025 Superhub, compared with 35% for adults aged 15+ overall. That result uses Great Britain rather than the full UK and measures monthly activity, so it belongs in a separate series from RAJAR's weekly reach.

For show planning, use the audience personas guide to collect first-party evidence rather than assigning national demographic patterns to your listeners.

Devices and services used for podcasts

Edison Podcast Metrics UK Q1 2025 found that nine in ten weekly podcast listeners used a smartphone. Ofcom reported that 69% used a smartphone most often. Half used a laptop or desktop, while 11% named one as their primary device. Voice-enabled speakers were used by 35%, with 6% using them as the primary device.

Ofcom's Podcast Survey asked 1,504 weekly listeners how they accessed podcasts and which service they used most often:

"Used" and "used most often" answer different questions. These respondent-reported results also do not establish platform market share by listening hours, downloads, advertising inventory, or revenue.

The podcast analytics guide explains why platform fields should stay tied to the platform that produced them. Adding them to host delivery can count the same activity twice.

Video, locations, and listening time

Among 1,504 weekly podcast listeners in Ofcom's 2025 survey, 69% said they ever listened to podcasts that also had video and 37% did so weekly. Among the 1,032 listeners who consumed podcasts with video, 41% preferred audio-only, 29% preferred actively watching video, and 23% preferred leaving the video on in the background. Seven percent did not know and 2% reported no preference.

Ofcom also asked weekly listeners where and during which activities they usually listened. In the all-adults 18+ column, 59% selected travelling in a car, 30% relaxing at home, 27% doing housework, and 19% working, including working from home. Respondents could select activities, so these results should not be added into a total.

Edison's combined Q2 2024 through Q1 2025 data found 64% of weekly podcast listeners spent more than three hours per week with podcasts, while 17% spent at least ten hours. Those listening-time results apply to weekly listeners aged 15+, not all UK adults.

Discovery and genre results

Ofcom's 2025 Podcast Survey asked its full sample of 2,368 where they tended to hear about new podcasts. Word of mouth from friends or family was selected by 34%, and social media by 33%. Among ages 18 to 34, those figures were 47% and 63%. The full sample included regular, occasional, and non-users, which explains why "I don't hear about new podcasts" was also an available response.

Genre data used the 1,504 regular-listener base. Ofcom reported that entertainment, news and current affairs, comedy, and discussion or talk shows each reached 45% to 50% of regular listeners weekly. Age-specific results varied. Entertainment reached 57% of weekly listeners aged 18 to 34. News and current affairs reached 46% in that group, 48% among ages 35 to 54, and 46% among ages 55+.

Commercial context

IAB UK and PwC reported a 23% year-over-year increase in UK podcast advertising spend during calendar 2023 in the Digital Adspend 2023 release. The study combined submitted and modelled expenditure. The public page did not give an absolute podcast-spend total.

That percentage measures advertiser expenditure growth in a defined year. It cannot be combined with Ofcom's reach percentages to calculate revenue per listener, campaign return, or publisher income. For buying mechanics, the podcast CPM guide explains how a campaign denominator and delivery window affect a quoted rate.

How to use UK podcast data without mixing definitions

Start every benchmark with five fields: metric, value, population or base, reference period, and method. Keep the source URL beside the row. If any field is missing, avoid using the number in a pitch or forecast until the source can supply it.

For your own show, compare episode delivery under one stable measurement rule and window. Pair that with platform-specific consumption and voluntary audience research. The download measurement guide covers the difference between delivered media and evidence of listening.

Update this page when a source releases a comparable new period. Preserve older rows with their dates rather than connecting figures whose frequency, geography, sample, or method changed.

Start with Podder Analytics to measure your show consistently before comparing with national research.