eLearning is nothing new, but the real deal happened during the COVID-19 pandemic when the whole world was forced to stay at home. This gave a massive boost to virtual classes. As a result, the eLearning industry is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2032.
It is also predicted that 75% of the schools in the US will operate completely online in upcoming years.
Fascinating, isn’t it? Well, let us take a look at some other interesting eLearning statistics in this post.
eLearning Statistics: Top Picks for 2024
- Students retain around 25% to 60% more via online learning.
- 70% of the eLearning market revenue is generated in Europe and the United States.
- The online learning market has grown by 900% since 2000.
- 69% of the students prefer to learn from online forums and other eLearning platforms.
- 64% of high school students in the United States use eLearning platforms.
- 85% of the teachers use digital learning tools to engage students in learning.
- 77% of the organizations in the United States reported that they rely on eLearning platforms for professional development.
- 94% of the eLearners prefer to study at their own pace.
- 78% of eLearners use their laptops for online learning.
- Employee engagement increased by 18% with the help of eLearning.
eLearning Industry Statistics For 2024
- The eLearning market size was valued at $399.3 billion in 2022.
The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 14% between 2023 and 2032, reaching a market value of $1 trillion.
Source: Global Market Insights.
- 70% of the global eLearning market revenue is generated in the United States and Europe.
The highest number of eLearning activities is recorded in the United States and Europe compared to the other parts of the world.
- Online Learning revenue worldwide reached $166.60 billion in 2023.
$103.80 billion was generated by Online University Education. Meanwhile, Online Learning Platforms are predicted to generate a revenue of $57.42 billion worldwide.
Here are further details about the revenue from online learning worldwide.
| Online learning | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Online Learning Platform | $56.69 billion | $57.42 billion |
| Online University Education | $85.50 billion | $103.80 billion |
| Professional Certificates | $4.68 billion | $5.33 billion |
Source: Statista.
- eLearning education is predicted to generate a revenue of $239.3 billion.
The market is expected to have an annual growth rate of 9.48% between 2023 and 2027.
Here are further details about the predicted values of the eLearning market revenues.
| Year | Online Learning revenue |
|---|---|
| 2023 | $166.60 billion |
| 2024 | $185.20 billion |
| 2025 | $203.80 billion |
| 2026 | $220.80 billion |
| 2027 | $239.30 billion |
Source: Statista.
Growth Of Online Education: Statistics for 2024
- Online learning has grown by 900% over the years.
The Online learning market worldwide has grown nine times since the year 2000. It is the fastest-growing market in the education sector.
Source: Oxford College.
- More than 20 million new learners registered for new courses in 2021.
The number of new learners registering for courses yearly has increased by 7 million on average since 2016.
Due to the pandemic, Many people got online and were getting stuff done over the web. That is the reason the number of new learners who registered for online courses increased three times during that period.
Source: Coursera.
How many people prefer to learn online?
- 69% of students worldwide said they prefer fully online, hybrid, or blended learning options.
On the other hand, 31% of the students said that they prefer face-to-face instructions.
Source: Edscoop.
- 41% of the United States graduates said they prefer online education over traditional education.
Two in five students in the United States believe that online education helped them better experience all-around growth compared to the traditional experience.
Source: Statista.
- 96% of online college students said that they would recommend online learning.
According to Best Colleges data, 93% of the graduates said their online learning will result in a positive return on investment.
Meanwhile, 75% of the students said that online education was better than or equal to in-person learning.
- 36% of the students said completing an online course is easier than learning in the classroom.
A study by Oxford University in the United Kingdom highlighted that almost 2 in 5 students said studying and completing an online course was easier than completing studies offline.
Comparatively, 29% of the students disagreed and said it was just as difficult.
Source: Oxford College.
- 95% of learners said that they are able to retain information with the help of video-based educational materials.
Source: research.com.
Did You Know? Readers retain 65% of the information paired with a relevant infographic.
eLearning Schools And Students Statistics
- 98% of the universities now offer online courses.
The trend of online education that started during the pandemic continues post-pandemic, and over 9 out of 10 schools offer some form of online learning programs.
- Asia Pacific has the highest student presence on the eLearning platforms.
28 million new online learners enrolled in 68 million courses in the region. North America, Europe, and Latin America follow the Asia Pacific region.
- The average age of an online student is recorded to be 32 years globally.
The oldest eLearning students are recorded to have an age of 34 years, while the youngest was recorded to have an age of 29 years.
Source: Coursera.
- 60% of the college students took atleast one course online.
Around 30% of students took only online classes, while the other 30% had some of their classes online.
Source: Best colleges.
- Most of the undergraduate students attending four-year colleges in public institutions attended online classes.
61% of the undergraduates were enrolled in atleast one course online, while 56% of the graduate students were enrolled.
Corporate eLearning Statistics
- Companies achieved more than 18% employee engagement by adopting eLearning technologies.
eLearning doesn’t need to be limited to educational institutes.
eLearning technologies provide a helping hand to companies for training their employees well, and it is proving to be beneficial.
Employee engagement and productivity rates increase considerably when they are provided with learning material.
Source: Global News Wire.
- The corporate eLearning industry is forecasted to have a market size of $44.6 billion by the end of 2028.
In 2021,. The market size of the industry was $22.5 billion. The market size is anticipated to grow at an average rate of 10.5% year-over-year.
- eLearning usually requires 40% to 60% less employee time.
Compared to the traditional classroom setting, employees require less than half of their time to learn a new skill through eLearning.
Source: Elearning industry.
- Approximately 40% of the Fortune 500 companies worldwide use eLearning for training.
2 out of 5 Fortune 500 companies use eLearning regularly. Besides, large firms worldwide deliver one-fourth of the training online.
Source: Skill Scouter.
- 90% of companies worldwide offer their employees some form of digital learning.
According to a study conducted by LinkedIn, 68% of employees prefer to learn at work, while 58% want to learn at their own pace. Meanwhile, 49% want to learn when they need it.
Source: LinkedIn
- Companies with extensive eLearning training generate 218% higher revenue per employee.
According to Deloitte, an average employee dedicates 1% of their weekly time to training.
This time invested in training helps the employees to stay up to date with the latest trends, upskill their abilities, and learn about the developments in the industry.
Source: eLearning Industry, Deloitte.
- Every dollar invested in online training resulted in $30 of productivity for IBM.
This helped them to save $200 million after switching to eLearning. That’s because the employees could work faster with the newly learned skills.
Source: Shift Learning.
- 61% of the experts said their first priority was closing the skill gap by introducing eLearning.
Other top priorities were driving organizational growth (46%), Improving employee engagement (44%), and increasing job satisfaction (34%).
Source: Udemy.
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Online Learning Stats by Country
- In fall 2020, 8.6 million college students in the United States enrolled in eLearning.
Besides, 5.4 million students were enrolled in atleast one distance education course in the United States.
Source: Statista.
- 75% of US undergraduate students have enrolled in distance education courses as of 2020.
11.8 million students in the United States took at least one distance education course. At the same time, 44% of them were exclusively enrolled in distance eLearning courses.
Source: NCES.
- 46% of the Irish students were enrolled in online courses in 2021.
The students in Ireland had the highest engagement in online courses among people aged 16 and 74 in 2021.
Finland and Sweden follow them with a 45% engagement rate and the Netherlands with 44%.
Source: Eurostat.
- The highest number of eLearners is in the United States.
According to Coursera, 17.3 million learners on Coursera were registered in the United States.
The second-highest learners on the platform are from India.
Here is a table displaying the top countries with the most learners on Coursera:
| Country | Number of learners |
|---|---|
| United States | 17.3 million |
| India | 13.6 million |
| Mexico | 4.8 million |
| Brazil | 3.7 million |
| China | 3.3 million |
| Canada | 2.4 million |
| Russia | 2.4 million |
| United Kingdom | 2.4 million |
| Colombia | 2.2 million |
| Egypt | 1.6 million |
Source: Coursera.
- The highest number of new learner growth was recorded in Paraguay.
The country displayed 98% growth, totaling 110,000 learners. Lebanon witnessed the second-highest growth rate of 97%.
Here is a table displaying the countries with the highest rate of new learners:
| Country | The growth rate of learners |
|---|---|
| Paraguay | 98% |
| Lebanon | 97% |
| Phillippines | 85% |
| Guyana | 74% |
| Indonesia | 74% |
| Kenya | 69% |
| Ethiopia | 61% |
| Rwanda | 60% |
| Vietnam | 55% |
| Kazakhstan | 54% |
Source: Coursera.
How efficient is ELearning?
- The eLearning courses have increased the online retention rates of students by 25% to 60%.
Many students struggle to maintain their interest throughout the semester in offline learning. Conversely, online learning enables flexibility, leading to increased student retention rates.
Source: eLearning industry.
- Online courses consume 90% less energy and 85% less CO2 per student.
eLearning is environment-efficient, too!
Source: eLearning industry.
- Seven out of ten teachers agree that learning tools are helpful when studying things on their own.
Besides, 95% of them recommend it to others as they found the tools helpful.
Source: Research.com
- 71% of the principals said that digital learning tools help their students in real-world problem-solving skills.
At the same time, 35% of teachers and school administrators believe that eLearning helps them personalize instructions according to the student’s skill level.
Source: Research.com.
- According to eLearningStats, 36% of K12 educators are concerned about the increasing screen time of students as a major challenge.
Source: elearningstats.education.
MOOC statistics
- The MOOC market is projected to reach $21.4 billion by 2025.
North America is the highest contributor to the MOOC market, with a current market share of 29.4%.
- The MOOC market was projected to have an annual growth rate of 29% between 2020 and 2025.
The Asia Pacific region is projected to have the highest annual growth rate during this forecasted period.
- Coursera is the most preferred MOOC platform.
With more than 76 million learners, Coursera is the top choice for students and professionals.
Here are further details about the top MOOC platform in the table below as of 2024:
| Course Name | Learners | Course | Degrees |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coursera | 92 million | 4600+ | 25 |
| Edx | 41 million | 3500+ | 13 |
| FutureLearn | 17 million | 1160+ | 28 |
| Swayam | 24 million | 1130+ | 0 |
Coursera
- 92 million learners have registered on Coursera as of 2023.
This number has increased three times compared to the year 2018. The number of learners count in 2018 was 37. 3 million.
Source: TechCrunch.
- Coursera has partnerships with over 275 universities and companies worldwide.
Some of the top Universities that Coursera has partnered with are Yale, Google, University of Michigan, IBM, Duke University, Imperial College London, Los Andes University, etc.
Source: Coursera.
- 53% of the students on Coursera are male, while 47% of students are female.
Source: Coursera.
- Coursera generated a total revenue of $153.7 million in the 2nd quarter of 2023.
This was an increase of 23% compared to the previous year. In the 2nd quarter of 2022, Coursera generated revenue of $124.8 million.
Source Coursera Investor report.
- Coursera recorded a total revenue of $523.8 million in 2022.
This is an increase of 26% compared to the previous year. In 2021, Coursera recorded a revenue of $415.3 million.
Source: Coursera
edX
- 76% of the learners stated that edX gave them access to an otherwise unattainable education.
- edX’s current revenue is estimated to be $44 million per year.
The revenue of the platform doubled from $15 million to $44 million between 2016 and 2018.
- More than 3.5K courses are available on edX.
Masterclass
- MasterClass has more than 2 million active subscribers.
- A large number of Masterclass learners are Women.
51.28% of the subscribers on MasterClass are female. Meanwhile, 48.72% of subscribers are male.
- MasterClass is Valued at $2.75 billion.
Source: Learnopoly, upskillwise.
Linked Learning Statistics
- More than 27 million users have registered on LinkedIn.
- Around 20,800 courses are available on LinkedIn learning.
These courses are available in 11 languages.
Impact of Covid-19 on eLearning
- 18% of the students registered on the eLearning platform during the COVID-19 pandemic.
50 nations worldwide had shut down their schools during the COVID-19 pandemic, which motivated 1 in every 5 students worldwide to enroll on eLearning platforms.
Source: ncbi.
- 60% of students found the online forum and discussions helpful.
These numbers increased from less than 30% to 60% just within a few weeks.
Source: BMC Medical Education.
- 70% of the students and 60% of teachers preferred online forums and hybrid learning over face-to-face learning during the pandemic.
Source: BMC Medical Education.
- Educators said that students can cover up to 50% of the content by themselves with the help of eLearning.
Source: BMC Medical Education.
Did You Know? There was an 82% increase in smartphone users registered among Gen Z due to the COVID-19 Pandemic
Use of AI in eLearning
- By 2024, 47% of the LMS tools will be powered by AI capabilities.
- The adoption of VR products in eLearning is estimated to have reached $33.9 billion in 2022.
- The eLearning VR market is anticipated to reach $1.4 billion by the end of 2027.
The market was valued at $60 million in 2018 and was predicted to grow at a CAGR of 42.9% between 2019 and 2027.
Source: Research.com.
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