Contents
- Digital radio adoption statistics: DAB+ household and device ownership
- Digital radio adoption statistics: broadcast and online listening shares
- Digital radio adoption statistics: digital radio use by age and region
- Digital radio adoption statistics: listening at home, work, and in cars
- Digital radio adoption statistics: DAB+ listening frequency and receiver use
- Sources
Digital radio adoption statistics: DAB+ household and device ownership
Digital radio adoption statistics cover several distinct measures: household access to a device, individual ownership, and reported possession of a DAB+-capable receiver. Those measures describe different things, so they should not be combined as if they were a single national ownership rate.
In Germany, 40% of households had at least 1 DAB+ device in 2025. The measure is household equipment: it does not state how many devices each household owned or how frequently anyone used them. Separately, 1 quarter of people aged 14 and over owned a DAB+ car radio. This is an individual measure, with a specified age threshold, rather than a household figure. Source: Audio Trends 2025
Germany’s access measure broadens the device definition. When smart devices were included, access to digital radio reception reached 96% in 2025. The figure concerns access to digital reception possibilities, including smart devices; it should not be read as 96% ownership of a dedicated DAB+ receiver. Source: Audio Trends 2025
Austria’s survey reported that 27% of respondents aged 15–70 perceived at least 1 DAB+-capable device in their household in 2025. This is self-reported perceived possession. The report cautions that respondents may not know whether their radios support DAB+, and that actual possession may be higher. The measure therefore does not establish a verified inventory of compatible equipment. Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025
| Country and survey period | Measure | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Germany, 2025 | Households with at least 1 DAB+ device | 40% |
| Germany, 2025 | People aged 14 and over owning a DAB+ car radio | 1 quarter |
| Germany, 2025 | Access including smart devices | 96% |
| Austria, 2025 | Respondents aged 15–70 reporting a DAB+-capable household device | 27% |
Sources: Audio Trends 2025; DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025
Digital radio adoption statistics: broadcast and online listening shares
Listening-minute shares provide a different view from device ownership: they show which reception modes account for radio use. In Switzerland in spring 2025, digital radio represented 87% of all radio listening minutes. Within the mode breakdown, DAB+ accounted for 46%, internet reception for 41%, and FM for 13%. The report classifies radio use via TV in its internet/digital category, a reminder that “digital” here is broader than DAB+ alone. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, pp. 2–3
| Switzerland, spring 2025 | Share of all radio listening minutes |
|---|---|
| Digital radio | 87% |
| DAB+ | 46% |
| Internet reception | 41% |
| FM | 13% |
Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, pp. 2–3
The same Swiss series offers a longer comparison for digital radio as a whole: its share of radio listening minutes was 49% in autumn 2015 and 87% in spring 2025. These are two observations from the stated periods, not a complete annual series. They do not isolate DAB+ from internet reception. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, p. 2
The category boundaries matter when comparing adoption figures. A high digital share cannot be presented as the DAB+ share: in the Swiss spring 2025 breakdown, DAB+ and internet are separately reported components. Similarly, household access, listening minutes, and population awareness answer different questions. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, pp. 2–3
Digital radio adoption statistics: digital radio use by age and region
The Swiss report found at least 85% digital radio use in every age group and at least 85% in every language region in spring 2025. These are minimum thresholds reported across the groups, not exact values for each group. The cited DigiMig survey base was 2,835. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, p. 10
For people aged 55 and over in Switzerland, DAB+ accounted for 56% of radio reception use in spring 2025. The report’s age chart gives a sample of 1,093 for this group. This measure describes reception use among that age group; it is not a measure of device ownership or awareness. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, p. 5
Austria’s 2025 study measured awareness rather than listening in its regional results. Among the specified regional MUXE samples, awareness of DAB+/Digitalradio was 54% in Upper Austria (n=386), 50% in Tyrol (n=201), and 45% in Vorarlberg (n=125). These values indicate whether respondents said they knew DAB+/Digitalradio; they are not regional adoption or listening shares. Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025, p. 21
Austria-wide awareness results used a sample of 2,900 people aged 15–70. In 2025, 49% had heard of DAB+ in the study’s combined measure of knowing the term, the sign, or both. The component responses were 30% who knew the term, 8% who knew the sign, and 11% who knew both. These categories describe recognition, not receiver use. Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025, p. 17
| Austria, 2025 awareness measure | Result |
|---|---|
| Knew the term DAB+ | 30% |
| Knew the DAB+ sign | 8% |
| Knew both term and sign | 11% |
| Reported awareness in the combined measure | 49% |
Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025, p. 17
Digital radio adoption statistics: listening at home, work, and in cars
Location shares also use different denominators. In Switzerland in spring 2025, 61% of total radio listening time took place at home, 19% at work, and 13% in cars. The source describes these as shares of total radio usage on stationary and mobile devices by location, based on a sample of 2,835. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, p. 6
DAB+ figures by location can be read in 2 ways. One measure distributes all DAB+ use across locations: 63% of DAB+ use occurred at home, 17% at work or education, and 16% in cars. These values describe where DAB+ listening happened, not the share of all radio listening at each location that used DAB+. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, p. 7
A separate measure asks what proportion of radio minutes at each location used DAB+. In spring 2025, DAB+ accounted for 58% of in-car radio minutes, 48% of radio minutes at home, and 42% of radio minutes at work in Switzerland. The in-car figure is consistent with DAB+ being one part of the broader digital reception total; it should not be confused with the 16% distribution of DAB+ use that took place in cars. Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, p. 7
| Switzerland, spring 2025 | Share of total radio minutes at location using DAB+ |
|---|---|
| In cars | 58% |
| At home | 48% |
| At work | 42% |
Source: Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025, p. 7
Austria’s 2025 survey reported listening locations among DAB+ users: 56% listened in cars and 46% at home. These percentages refer to Austrian DAB+ users and their reported listening locations. They are not shares of all radio minutes in Austria, so they should not be directly compared with the Swiss minute-share results. Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025, p. 54
Digital radio adoption statistics: DAB+ listening frequency and receiver use
In Austria, 24% of residents aged 15–70 had listened to a program on a DAB+-capable radio at least once by 2025. A more regular-use measure found that 18% listened to DAB+/Digitalradio at least several times per month. The first is an ever-listened measure; the second describes a minimum frequency. Neither should be read as daily listening. Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025, pp. 31, 54
Among Austrian respondents who had DAB+ experience, 71% listened at least several times per month in 2025. This conditional result uses a base of 580 respondents with DAB+ experience, while the 18% figure is an Austria-wide result. The different bases explain why the percentages describe different populations. Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025, p. 36
Device possession varied by age among Austrian respondents who knew DAB+. The 2025 survey reported at least 1 DAB+-capable household device for 56% of those aged 15–29 (n=327), 57% aged 30–39 (n=299), 60% aged 40–49 (n=270), 50% aged 50–59 (n=287), and 51% aged 60–70 (n=232). Because these are conditional on knowing DAB+, they are not estimates for all people in those age bands. Source: DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025, p. 44
Across these surveys, adoption is represented by access, ownership, awareness, listening reach, listening frequency, and listening-minute shares. The measures offer complementary views, but their populations and denominators differ. In particular, DAB+ results should remain distinct from broader digital-radio measures that also include internet reception or smart devices. Sources: Audio Trends 2025; Digital Radio Use in Switzerland, spring 2025; DAB+ Digitalradio Österreich, 2025