Audiobooks and the spoken-word experience Beyond the books on tape

Laura Fisher

May 2026

Audiobooks are moving from a niche format enjoyed by literary fans to a mainstream mode of spoken-word audio consumption.

Major trends are not immediately visible in the data; they emerge in patterns of behaviour – what people choose, retain, and abandon.

This report focuses on the behaviours that point to growth and where that growth will come from. It is designed for strategy, content, and product leads who need to separate signal from noise and decide where to place their next bet in audio.

Key data and insights in this report:

Audiobook monthly active user penetration broken down by country, age, and household income
Most-used social platforms and motivations behind social media use among audiobook listeners
Top reasons for listening to audiobooks and favourite genres
Screen-time reduction behaviours compared to the consumer average

Data from:

MIDiA Research Consumer Survey Q1 2026, US, UK, Australia, Canada, France, Spain, Poland, Japan, Colombia, n = 9,000

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