Official figures on the numbers of people who listen to podcasts in the UK these days vary considerably. Ofcom’s most recent data suggests that just over 20% of UK adults now listen to at least one podcast a week – that’s 11.7 million people – but a winter 2024 survey from radio research body RAJAR suggests that 26% of adults tune in to podcasts in an average week, for around eight hours each.

And the latest findings from Acast, the world’s largest independent podcast company, and research agency Nielsen claim even higher numbers. Their survey from August last year found that a huge 42% of the British public had listened to a podcast in the past week, with 21% listening every day.