The move, which is believed to be a first for a major print title, will see political, business, scientific and cultural affairs available for downloading either by section, or as the entire issue.
The service will be available free to existing subscribers, while non-subscribers will be able to purchase each edition for US$8.
"In terms of commercial opportunities, we can offer advertisers the opportunity to sponsor an entire issue, a section of the magazine, or we can bundle audio articles on a particular topic to suit the advertiser," said Andrew Au, marketing manager, Asia-Pacific, The Economist.
"Geotargeting is also available with the new service, but as this is a new product, we are keeping an open mind with regard to how advertisers can be involved with this product."
The Economist podcasts are being produced in conjunction with audio magazine company Talking Issues.
