The 2024 Global Trend Report from Podimo shows there was a 45% increase year-on-year in local-language podcast and audiobook listening.
Podimo is Europe’s fastest growing podcast and audiobook subscription service which operates across seven markets.
In addition to the increase in local language listening, it was the comedy and true crime genres that saw the largest growth this year.
Comedy experienced an explosive growth, with Finland leading at +194% and Norway following at +81%.
In true crime, Spain saw a +408% surge in engagement, particularly among women, while Germany saw 49% of listeners falling asleep to True Crime.
As for audiobooks via podcasts, Denmark and Finland saw nearly double the amount (47% and 46%, respectively) of podcast lovers discovering audiobooks, showing an increasing synergy between the two formats.
Denmark came out as the most binge-oriented market, with 27% of users consuming 3+ hours of podcasts or audiobooks in a single day.
The report also demonstrates the importance of spoken audio’s role in daily routines with weekday listening exceeding weekends by 40–50% across all markets.
Podimo’s Chief Content Officer Sachin Doshi said: “2024 saw spoken audio entertainment reach new heights of influence globally.
“As we look to 2025, we see a stronger willingness to pay for quality local language content, and in multiple markets we’re already generating more revenue for podcasters than the entire local advertising business. Our goal is to make that a reality everywhere.
“Creators will continue to have differing goals, and our mission is to support them where they’re at, whether it’s helping them earn more, or developing their audience reach.
“Finally, the future of audio is audio, but many audio formats lend themselves to a richer experience through visual engagement, at the listener’s discretion.
“We produce more of our shows in video than ever before, but we want to dive further into what visual engagement could mean for formats like True Crime or single host shows, where filming the recording session might not add value for the listener, but there are other ways to enhance the listening experience.”
Go here for the Podimo 2024 Global Trend Report.
