Otonal Inc. and The Asahi Shimbun Company released a survey regarding podcast usage in Japan for 2023, "PODCAST REPORT IN JAPAN: Survey of Podcast Usage in Japan #4” in March 2024.
The survey was conducted from December 8th to December 9th, 2023, targeting 10,000 men and women between the ages of 20 and 69.
In response to the recent increase in podcast listeners in English-speaking countries and markets, this study aims to understand the listening trends of podcast listeners in Japan.
Summary of Survey Results
- Podcasts have high usage among young people: about 1 in 3 among 15-19 year-olds and 1 in 4 among those in their 20s.
- Podcast usage is on par with TikTok.
- Just under 60% of podcast users are under 39 years old. By gender, males make up the majority.
- 87.1% of users listen to podcasts while doing something else.
- Podcast listeners are more sensitive than non-listeners to information.
※Estimated from the population and Internet usage rate of each age group of 15~69 years old.
※Please be sure to specify [Research conducted by Otonal Inc./The Asahi Shimbun Company] when using the survey results and graphs in this release.
▼Survey Results (Excerpt)
■Podcasts have high usage among young people: about 1 in 3 among 15-19 year-olds and 1 in 4 among those in their 20s
The survey of 10,000 respondents, including general users, found that 15.7% listened to podcasts at least once a month, which classifies them as monthly active users. In particular, the usage rate among 15-19-year-olds was 32.8%, or about 1 in 3 in this age group, and among those in their 20s, the usage rate was 25%, with 1 in 4 using podcasts monthly.
■Podcast usage is on par with TikTok
Podcast usage was on par with TikTok. It is ahead of Netflix, magazines, and Abema in usage among all age groups. When restricted to 15-29-year-olds, podcast usage was 27.4% (#8 across all media), ahead of Amazon Prime Video, radio, Facebook, and newspapers.
■Just under 60% of podcast users are under 39 years old. By gender, males make up the majority.
In terms of age, 38.8% of all podcast users are between 15 and 29 years old, and 56.9% are between 15-39-years-old. 15-to 39-year-olds have a higher percentage of younger users when compared to other media, such as Instagram and radio. In terms of gender, there were more males than females (57.3% males).
■87.1% of users listen to podcasts while doing something else
Driving (23.8%), public transportation (23.5%), housework (23.4%), walking (23.3%), and working on a hobby (22.2%) were the top listening situations, with nearly identical scores. With 87.1% of listeners listening to podcasts while doing something, we found that listening to podcasts while doing something else is a widespread practice.
■Podcast listeners are more sensitive than non-listeners to information
In a survey comparing information sensitivity by media users, podcast listeners had the highest results across all response categories. Podcast listeners tend to be highly sensitive to new trends.
In particular, they were more than 10 points more sensitive to two items: "I am quicker than others to adopt products and new services" and "Others often ask me about new trends."
