The Top Spotify Podcast Across Countries

We are amidst the breakout era of podcasts. Since the beginning of the smartphone revolution, the digital audio format has picked up serious traction with audiences all over. In the U.S. alone, it’s estimated that there will be 132 million podcast listeners by 2022.

Today, there are 850,000 active podcasts available in 100 languages, with over 30 million episodes to tap into—perfect if you have an afternoon to yourself.

Worldwide Podcast Chart-Toppers

The data in this infographic comes from Spotify, the top global streaming service in the industry by paid users. How do the top podcasts fare on a per country basis?

Country Top Podcast Honorable Mention (Second Highest) Canada The Joe Rogan Experience Call Her Daddy France Choses a Savoir Mythes et Legendes UK The Michelle Obama Podcast The Joe Rogan Experience Germany Gemischtes Hack Fest & Flauschig Italy Blu Notte - Fisteri Italiani Mushio Selvaggio U.S. The Michelle Obama Podcast Call Her Daddy Japan kemioの耳そうじクラブ Hapa英会話 Podcast Australia From The Newsroom The Joe Rogan Experience India The Michelle Obama Podcast Purijagannadh Ireland The Joe Rogan Experience The 2 Johnnies Podcast Mexico Leyendas Legendarias La Cotorrisa New Zealand The Joe Rogan Experience Call Her Daddy Argentina Concha Podcast Entiende Tu Mente Austria Verbrechen Fest & Flauschig Brazil NerdCast Café da Manha Chile Tomas Va A Morir Matriarcalmente Hablando Colombia DianaUribe.fm Dani 3Palacios Podcast Denmark Morkeland Her Gar Det Godt Finland POKS Jaliila Indonesia Rintik Sedu PODKESMAS Norway Friminutt med Herman og Mikkel G-punktet Philippines Sleeping Pill with Inka Adulting With Joyce Pring Poland Kryminatorium Ja I moje przyjaciółki idiotki Spain Nadie Sabe Nada Entiende Tu Mente Sweden P3 Dokumentar Sommar & Vinter i P1 Netherlands Zelfspodcast Man man man, de podcast

Many of the top shows around the world follow a familiar interview or conversational format, but there are trends that deviate from that formula. In particular, there are a number of podcasts focused on health and wellness as well as current events.

The early beginnings of podcasting were dominated by upstart content creators, but as the market has matured, big media outlets and A-list personalities have been vying for listeners’ attention in an increasingly crowded field. As it stands now, two podcasts from America carry a large presence in foreign markets, and the two big personalities—Michelle Obama and Joe Rogan—stand a notch above the rest.

The Rogan-Obama tug of war in the podcast realm has had its back and forths. Obama pulled ahead in many countries in August, but in September the pendulum swung in favor of Rogan.

Follow The Money

In 2015, ad revenue in the podcast industry was a minuscule $69 million across the board. It’s expected to reach over $1 billion by 2021, and to grow further from there.

The podcast boom is powered by younger generations, and both millennials and Gen Z represent a sizable portion of the total podcast audience globally. In particular, demographic listenership numbers experience a big drop after the 35-54 age bracket.

Flexibility and variety are key features that are helping fuel the growth of the medium. One can keep up with serious world affairs or listen to Call Her Daddy—a podcast on sex and relationships by Barstool Sports, another podcast that frequently tops the charts.

Top Podcast Publishers by U.S. Audience

When it comes to key participants in the industry, National Public Radio (NPR) sits on the top spot with over 26 million unique monthly audience members. In close second, iHeartRadio holds a whopping 494 shows.

Podcast Publisher U.S. Unique Monthly Audience Global Downloads & Streams Active Shows NPR 26,933,000 219,716,000 49 iHeartRadio 26,182,000 234,417,000 494 New York Times 13,102,000 145,961,000 15 Barstool Sports 10,228,000 67,569,000 43 PRX 9,035,000 82,245,000 87 Wondery 8,794,000 57,261,000 98 ESPN/ABC 8,472,000 66,685,000 96 NBC News 6,751,000 44,219,000 26 Cumulus Media/Westwood One 6,473,000 40,912,000 115 Warner Media 6,350,000 33,503,000 113 This American Life/Serial 5,924,000 22,722,000 2 Kast Media 5,319,000 30,353,000 46 Daily Wire 5,212,000

43,342,000 5 WNYC Studios 5,209,000 35,381,000 52 All Things Comedy 4,890,000 28,770,000 58 TED 3,739,000 51,696,000 10 American Public Media 3,362,000 17,997,000 50 Fox News Radio 2,518,000 13,633,000 34 Slate 1,951,000 13,812,000 97 WBUR 1,105,000 6,758,000 18

If you’re bullish on podcasts, many in the top 20 are publicly traded entities who either stand alone, or are part of a larger corporation. Notable stocks include the New York Times, ESPN as part of Disney, and Warner Media as part of AT&T.

Spotify Today and Tomorrow

Spotify’s direct listing IPO was initially met with a lack of confidence, due to Big Tech’s entry in the space, as well as the profitability and monetization concerns that typically plague the music industry as a whole. However, the company has done well in abating those concerns, especially if you consider Spotify’s stock price, which has doubled in the last year. An impressive 21% of Spotify’s monthly active users engage with podcast content.

In addition, a wealth of personalities have entered the podcasting space. These big names suggest that the competition is dialing up.

In recent months, an exclusive deal between Spotify and Joe Rogan, valued at over $100 million took the podcasting world by storm. This is quite a monumental step for the podcast timeline, and one that suggests more deals could follow as Spotify looks to lock people into their platform with exclusivity deals.