Close to four million Australians now downloading podcasts
New data from Roy Morgan shows podcasts are increasingly popular in Australia with over 3.9 million Australians now downloading audio or video podcasts in an average four weeks, up by a massive 456,000 (+13.1%) from a year ago.
This equates to almost one-in-five Australians (18.3%), up by 1.9% points from a year ago. Mobile phones and tablets are clearly the leading way to download podcasts used by 3.2 million Australians (15.2%) while around 1.1 million (5.2%) download podcasts via their computer – (2.1% use both).
An analysis by gender shows little difference with 1,983,000 men (18.8% of men) downloading podcasts compared to 1,952,000 women (17.9% of women) – both up more than 200,000 on a year ago.
Millennials and Generation Z dominate podcast downloads
Over the last year Generation Z (born from 1991-2005) has overtaken the slightly older Millennials (born from 1976-1990) as the largest downloaders of podcasts. Overall, these two generations comprise around 70% of all those who download podcasts. Now 1,377,000 (up 217,000 on a year ago) people in Generation Z download podcasts compared to 1,374,000 (up 110,000) Millennials.
There are 691,000 (up 33,000 on a year ago) in Generation X (born from 1961-1975), 304,000 (up 29,000) Baby Boomers (born from 1946-1960) and 142,000 (up 75,000) in Generation Alpha (born from 2006-2009) who download podcasts.
These are the latest results from Roy Morgan Single Source derived from in-depth online and telephone interviews with around 5,000 Australians each month, and over 60,000 each year.
Australians downloading audio or video podcasts in an average four weeks
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source: April 2021 – March 2022, n=65,365 and April 2022 – March 2023, n=65,863.
Base: Australians aged 14+.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says podcasts are growing rapidly in popularity and nearly one-in-five Australians now download podcasts in an average month – almost four million people:
“A decade ago, podcasts were unfamiliar to many Australians, but this new form of digital media has made steady in-roads and continues to increase penetration across the population.
“The latest Roy Morgan data shows 3,935,000 Australians (18.3% of the population) now download podcasts in an average four weeks – up a large 456,000 (+13.1%) on a year ago.
“Clearly the ability to listen to your favourite podcast while commuting to and from work and tuning out from the hustle and bustle on crowded public transport, or just relaxing in your spare time to catch up on what’s been happening in an area of personal interest is appealing to a growing number of Australians.
“This flexibility explains why mobile phones and tablets are the preferred channel for downloading podcasts and used by 3,270,000 Australians (15.2%), almost three times as many as the 1,118,000 Australians (5.2%) who download podcasts to their computers. Overall, 11.6 million Australians (54.1%) now use their mobile phone to listen to music, radio or podcasts.
“Interestingly, there is little gender difference when it comes to podcasts, with similar numbers of men (1,983,000) and women (1,952,000) now downloading podcasts. The audiences of both women and men have grown by over 200,000 compared to a year ago.
“Analysing podcast downloaders by socio-economic quintile shows the sought-after members of the AB socio-economic quintile (25% do so) are the most likely to download a podcast (25%) and the top two quintiles comprise 52% of podcast downloaders.
“By generation Australia’s most avid podcasters are Generation Z and Millennials who comprise about 35% of the podcast market each – 70% in total (2.75 million people). However, the fastest growth is within the growing Generation Alpha – those born from 2006 onwards – with listeners to podcast from that generation more than doubling to 142,000 compared to a year ago.
“These results are produced from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey derived from in-depth interviews conducted with around 5,000 Australians each month, and over 60,000 per year. Research conducted directly with real people is qualitatively and quantitatively more valuable than information drawn only through automated processes from web browsers and complicated algorithms. It’s the only way to learn how many real people – not bots, devices, clicks, or impressions – listen to podcasts.”
For comments and information about Roy Morgan’s podcast data, please contact:
Roy Morgan Enquiries
Office: +61 (3) 9224 5309
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
