Contents
- In car radio listening statistics: how often drivers use radio
- In car radio listening statistics: radio use versus other audio
- In car radio listening statistics: age differences in audio choice
- In car radio listening statistics: dashboard access and ease of use
- In car radio listening statistics: what listeners value and expect
- In car radio listening statistics: changes in UK listening over time
- Sources
In car radio listening statistics: how often drivers use radio
Radio use in cars appears in several surveys, but their percentages describe different audiences and questions. In Germany, 83.7% of online-audio users aged 14 and older who used online audio in a car reported using radio there in 2026. That is the report’s net-radio measure. Its separate figure for radio received over FM/DAB+ was 73.6%. The distinction matters: the broader net-radio result should not be read as an FM/DAB+ result. The chart’s respondent base was 2,145. Source: Online-Audio-Monitor 2026, p. 31
A 2026 survey across Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK asked a different population: adults aged 18 or older who had bought or leased a vehicle in the previous 5 years and helped choose it. Of the 8,000 surveyed car buyers, 83% said they listened to radio in the car. The survey definition included AM/FM, DAB/DAB+ and live online radio. Source: Radio and the Car: An Inseparable Duo, p. 5
UK reach data describe another aspect: people for whom the vehicle was the only place they listened to radio. Among UK adults aged 15 and older, weekly RAJAR reach for those who exclusively listened in a car, van or lorry was 20%, or 11.5 million adults, in Q1 2025. In Q1 2020, the corresponding figures were 14% and 7.8 million adults a week. These are exclusive-listening reach estimates, not total radio reach or time spent listening. Source: Audio Listening in the UK 2025, p. 12
Taken together, these findings show that radio was widely reported as an in-car option in the measured populations. They do not describe one common population: one result concerns German online-audio users who listen in cars, another vehicle decision-makers in 6 markets, and the UK series isolates people who listen to radio only in a vehicle. The survey wording and radio definitions also differ, so the percentages should be understood in their own context.
In car radio listening statistics: radio use versus other audio
Listening-time shares offer a way to compare audio categories, but they measure time rather than the percentage of people who use each source. In UK IPA TouchPoints 2024 SuperHub data, live radio accounted for 74% of in-car audio listening time. Music-streaming services accounted for 16%, and podcasts 4%. Those are the categories reported in the figure; the values are not an exhaustive list of every possible in-car audio source. Source: Audio Listening in the UK 2025, p. 13, Figure 10
| UK in-car audio category | Share of listening time |
|---|---|
| Live radio | 74% |
| Music-streaming service | 16% |
| Podcasts | 4% |
Source: Audio Listening in the UK 2025, p. 13, Figure 10
US figures also focus on time, but use different age groups, periods and source definitions. Edison’s Share of Ear data for Q4 2021–Q3 2022 found that, among people aged 13 and older who listened in a car, 58% of in-car listening time went through a traditional AM/FM radio receiver. A separate comparison using 2022 data for Americans aged 18 and older counted AM/FM radio more broadly, including broadcast and station streams: it accounted for 88% of in-car audio time, while other music streaming accounted for 12%. These are separate measures, not successive points in a single trend. Source: The State of Audio in 50 Charts, pp. 30, 43
The difference between a receiver measure and a broader AM/FM measure is useful context when comparing results. Listening through an AM/FM receiver is a device-based category; the broader comparison includes station streams. Across all these figures, the denominator is listening time, rather than the number of drivers or listeners who selected an option.
In car radio listening statistics: age differences in audio choice
Germany’s 2026 age breakdown reports whether online-audio users who listened in cars used FM/DAB+ radio and music streaming. The percentages describe reported use among age groups, not the share of listening time. Source: Online-Audio-Monitor 2026, p. 32
| Age group in Germany | FM/DAB+ radio | Music streaming |
|---|---|---|
| 14–29 | 59.7% | 86.8% |
| 30–49 | 72.1% | 77.0% |
| 50+ | 84.3% | 51.5% |
Source: Online-Audio-Monitor 2026, p. 32
In this German chart, reported FM/DAB+ use is 59.7% for ages 14–29, 72.1% for ages 30–49, and 84.3% for ages 50 and older. Music-streaming use is 86.8%, 77.0% and 51.5% in those same age groups. The pattern is a difference in reported category use by age within this survey’s in-car online-audio population; it does not show that one source displaced another or explain why preferences vary.
Edison’s US device-time figures provide a different age view. For Q4 2021–Q3 2022, AM/FM receivers represented 48% of in-car listening time among listeners aged 13–24, while mobile devices represented 43%. Across listeners aged 13 and older overall, mobile devices accounted for 21% of in-car listening time. The receiver share was 55% among ages 25–54 and 66% among those aged 55 and older. These are shares of time by device, so they cannot be directly compared with Germany’s percentages reporting use of audio categories. Source: The State of Audio in 50 Charts, p. 30
In car radio listening statistics: dashboard access and ease of use
The German Online-Audio-Monitor asked radio listeners how easy it was to find the radio area in the car, grouping people by the route they used most often. Among those using built-in radio or infotainment most often, 95.4% said the radio area was very or fairly easy to find. The corresponding figures were 85.7% for Android Auto users and 88.8% for Apple CarPlay users. Respondent bases were 1,228, 208 and 140, respectively. Source: Online-Audio-Monitor 2026, p. 35
| Most-used route to in-car radio | Radio area very or fairly easy to find | Respondent base |
|---|---|---|
| Built-in radio/infotainment | 95.4% | n=1,228 |
| Android Auto | 85.7% | n=208 |
| Apple CarPlay | 88.8% | n=140 |
Source: Online-Audio-Monitor 2026, p. 35
Finding the radio area is not the same task as finding a particular station. For that second question, 89.9% of built-in radio/infotainment users said finding their desired station was very or fairly easy. The result was 86.7% for Android Auto users and 78.2% for Apple CarPlay users. The route-specific respondent bases were the same: n=1,228, n=208 and n=140, respectively. Source: Online-Audio-Monitor 2026, p. 36
These answers are respondents’ assessments of ease. They distinguish navigating to the radio area from locating a desired station, and are tied to the listening route used most often. The figures do not measure task completion time or establish which route is easiest for all drivers; the respondent bases differ in size.
In car radio listening statistics: what listeners value and expect
In the 2026 six-market car-buyer survey, 62% of all 8,000 respondents called radio a must-have feature when considering a new car. A separate question went to the 6,621 surveyed buyers who listened to radio in the car: 85% agreed that they would really miss having radio in their car. One result concerns car buyers overall; the other concerns in-car radio listeners. Source: Radio and the Car: An Inseparable Duo, pp. 7–8
Among those 6,621 in-car radio listeners, 96% agreed that radio is easy to use, 87% that it is always just one click away, and 72% that it is easier to listen to than other audio sources. These figures reflect stated opinions in the survey, rather than measured interaction time or observed driving outcomes. Source: Radio and the Car: An Inseparable Duo, p. 10
The survey also asked about information and perceived safety. Among the same in-car radio listeners, 83% agreed that radio is very important in disasters or emergencies, and 68% agreed it is safer to use while driving than other audio sources. These are opinions respondents expressed; the measures do not test emergency performance or compare driving safety. Source: Radio and the Car: An Inseparable Duo, p. 11
A narrower group answered questions about connection and information: 3,477 in-car DAB radio listeners. Among them, 85% said radio keeps them up to date with the world when in the car, while 69% said it keeps them connected to their local area. These findings are specific to DAB listeners and should not be generalized to every in-car radio listener in the survey. Source: Radio and the Car: An Inseparable Duo, p. 12
In car radio listening statistics: changes in UK listening over time
RAJAR’s UK location series, presented with 12-month weighting, shows the share of average weekly radio listening that took place in a car, van or lorry at selected points. It was 16% in Q1 2005, 22% in Q1 2015, 24% in Q1 2020, 25% in Q1 2024 and 26% in Q1 2025. The report notes that fieldwork was suspended after Q1 2020 until Q3 2021 and that later methodology changes affect comparisons across that interruption. Source: Audio Listening in the UK 2025, p. 12, Figure 8
| Quarter | In-car share of average weekly UK radio listening |
|---|---|
| Q1 2005 | 16% |
| Q1 2015 | 22% |
| Q1 2020 | 24% |
| Q1 2024 | 25% |
| Q1 2025 | 26% |
Source: Audio Listening in the UK 2025, p. 12, Figure 8
The report gives a second measure of scale: average weekly listening hours in cars, vans and lorries were 172 million hours in Q1 2005 and 266 million hours in Q1 2025. Hours and location share answer different questions, and neither is a count of adults reached. The report presents these historical UK measures; they do not explain why listening changed. Source: Audio Listening in the UK 2025, p. 12