WorldDAB finds Norway, UK still tops in most DAB stats as more European countries join the bandwagon

WorldDAB released an infographic with statistics about ownership and coverage for digital radio. The data for Europe and Asia Pacific found that the UK is still the leader for cumulative receiver sales of DAB and DAB+ sets with more than 41.2 million sets. Germany has seen cumulative receiver sales of 14.6 million, and Norway has seen 6 million.

Norway leads these markets in terms of new cars equipped with DAB or DAB+ at 98%. The UK is strong on this metric too at 93%, followed by Switzerland with 91%. Household penetration has been slower than on the road, including in the top markets. Norway had 88% household penetration for DAB and DAB+. The UK reported 65% and Australia had 50%.

Even among the European countries that have been investing in digital radio technologies for several years, there are still improvements being made to infrastructure. Norway increased its network coverage from 89% of the population in 2013 to 99.7% in 2019. Germany improved its rate from 91% to 98% between 2013 and 2019. Other European markets that showed large leaps in that time frame were Italy, which rose from 65% to 84%, and France, which jumped from 5% to 25%.

Norway had the largest reach for digital radio in the first quarter of 2019 at 93%. Switzerland and the UK were tied with a 65% reach for that quarter. The Netherlands had reach of 39% and Australia had 30%.