Mapped: The Top Podcasts on Spotify Across Countries

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.