• Podcast consumption is gradually increasing among those over 35 years of age, although younger listeners remain the main listeners.

• Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 prefer podcasts about social issues and events (30%), while those over 65 prefer current affairs (16%).

Listening to podcasts in Spain remains stable, as reflected in the responses to the question on their consumption in the month prior to survey. The percentage of Internet users who say they have listened to a podcast subject stands at 44%. Although this figure is one percentage point less than in 2023 (45%), it is three points above the figure for 2022 (41%). The figure demonstrates the consolidation of consumption at around four out of every ten Internet users, a proportion that has been maintained since 2018, the year in which Digital News Report Spain collected information on podcast listening for the first time.

As last year, Spain consolidates its position among the six countries where respondents listen most to podcasts. In 2024, consumption in our country is six percentage points above the average (38%) of the 25 countries, most of them European, in which this question was asked.

Young man: profile of occasional student of podcast in Spain

In our country, the profile of the most common occasional student is still male. While slightly more than half of men (51%) say they have listened to a podcast in the last month, among women the figure drops to less than four out of ten (38%). This trend is also observed in the other countries surveyed.

In terms of age, it is the youngest users who consume the most podcasts: 62% of Internet users between 18 and 24 years of age do so. However, the social penetration of podcasts in this age group group has dropped 8 points compared to last year, when there was a peak (70%). Consumption among listeners between 25 and 34 years of age has also dropped by 1 percentage point (from 59% to 58%). In both cases, however, in 2023 there was a B increase compared to the previous year.

Podcast consumption is lower among older age groups, especially among those over 65, where three in ten are listeners, half as many as among younger listeners. But the last three years have seen a gradual increase in the percentage of adults who say they listen to podcasts in the 35-44 age groups (45% in 2022, 49% in 2023 and 53% in 2024), 45-54 (35% in 2022, 42% in 2023 and in 2024) and over 65 (27% in 2022, 29% in 2023 and 30% in 2024). The group between 55 and 64 years of age has remained at around 36%. The data therefore suggests that podcast consumption may continue to increase slowly in the coming years, if this trend continues.

The level of income and programs of study are increasingly significant variables.

Other sociodemographic variables such as level educational or income are also related to greater or lesser listening to podcasts, and, as shown by data, this link is increasingly significant.

The main audience for podcasts is found among respondents with higher income levels: 54% of high-income Internet users, compared to 46% with an income of average and 42% with an income of leave. The gap between the first and the last group widens this year to 12 percentage points, the largest difference since the report Digital News Report Spain has collected this variable.

On the other hand, the higher the level of educational of the Internet users, the higher the proportion of listeners. Among users with a high level of programs of study , 56% listen to podcasts, compared to 45% of those with a medium level of programs of study and 34% of those with a low level. In this case, the gap between the first and last group also widens with respect to previous years and reaches its maximum in the historical series: 22 percentage points.

As for respondents' ideological self-placement, compared with last year's data , which gave an advantage in podcast listening to Internet users on the left of the spectrum, in 2024 it is those on the right who say they listen to more podcasts: 51% compared with 46% among those in the center and 44% on the left. It cannot be concluded, therefore, that this variable implies significant differences in podcast consumption. However, as last year, there is a significant difference with respect to those who say they do not know where they stand ideologically: only 34% of them say they listen to podcasts.

Specialized and lifestyle topics continue to be the most listened-to podcast topics.

The topics preferred by Spanish Internet users for listening to podcasts remain unchanged from previous years. Specialized topics (e.g. science and technology, Economics and business, media, health, history) (20%) and lifestyle-related topics (e.g. food, fashion, art, literature, travel, leisure) (17%) continue to be the most popular among listeners. Two topics, moreover, that continue to increase the percentage of listeners who indicate them as part of their consumption in the last month: up 2 and 1 percentage point respectively compared to 2023. 15% of Internet users listen to current affairs podcasts (news, politics and international events) and 14% listen to social issues and events (e.g. crime, human stories). The least listened to podcasts are those focused on sports, which remain with an audience of 8%, the same as last year.

Men prefer specialized topics podcasts (24%), current affairs (20%) and, tied for third place, lifestyle and social issues and events (both 15%). Women, on the other hand, lean in the first place towards lifestyle (18%) and specialized topics (16%), and leave in third place the social affairs and current affairs podcasts (13%).

Although it is not the preferred topic for either group, there is a significant difference (10 percentage points) in listening to sports and current affairs podcasts: in the first case, 13% of the men surveyed say they have listened to a sports-related podcast in the last month, compared to 3% of the women; in the second, two out of ten men say they have listened to a current affairs-related podcast, compared to one out of ten women.

The interest of 18-24 year olds - the group that listens to the most podcasts - is primarily focused on social issues and events (e.g., crime, human stories): three out of ten say they listened to a podcast on this topic in the month prior to the survey. They are the only group age group that places this topic in first place. Slightly behind them are podcasts on specialized topics (26%) and lifestyle (23%). The topics least sought after by the youngest users are current affairs (19%) and sports (11%).

Among Internet users between the ages of 25 and 55, there are hardly any differences in their preferences for different topics: firstly, they prefer specialized topics, and secondly, lifestyle-related topics. However, from the age of 55 onwards, preferences do vary: interest in current affairs podcasts increases (they are the first choice among those aged 65 and over and the second among Internet users aged 55 to 64), while lifestyle podcasts fall to third place on the scale of the most listened to topics.

On the other hand, although variables related to the income and training of Internet users do not seem to affect listening to some topics, they could be related to preferences in other cases. In terms of income level, while there are hardly any differences between groups in listening to podcasts on sports, lifestyle, social issues and events, in the case of current affairs and specialized topics, high-income listeners outnumber lower-income listeners by several percentage points: 21% vs. 12% in the case of current affairs and 28% vs. 15% in the case of specialized topics podcasts. 

In relation to training, a similar dynamic is observed: the preference for some topics, in this case all of those proposed with the exception of those proposed, is several points higher among those with a high level of programs of study compared to those with a lower level educational. In the case of sports podcasts, however, the percentage in the different groups is similar. Although it should be borne in mind that Internet users with higher incomes and a higher level educational listen to more podcasts, so it is logical that the percentages of interest in the different topics are higher in these groups, the fact that the difference is marked in certain topics, especially sports, and not in others, is significant.