How Big Is The Online Education Market? (2025 Statistics)

If you are planning on starting a career in online education or simply continuing with your academic and educational achievements, you might be curious to know how big the global online education market is.

This article analyzes the global online education market size at the moment of writing, its projected market growth, the major names in the field, and more.

The online education market has become one of the most prominent markets in the world, but how big is the online education market, and what are the projections for its growth? Let’s read this complete review

The Rise Of The Global Online Education Market

Both on a nationwide and worldwide scale, there has been quite a significant rise in online education. This has resulted in a yearly boost in the global online education market size of massive open online courses.

As a result, determining the past, present, and future standing of the web-based learning education industry is intriguing.

This great online tool is shaping lives of many people who cannot afford online higher education

The Global Online Education Market Has Changed Since The Emergence Of COVID-19

The digitalization of learning structures of all levels has notably enabled the incorporation of a novel educational ecosystem known as e-learning.

Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the closure of schools all over the world, forcing a billion students, teachers, and professors to abruptly change their in-person educational content practices.

This situation demonstrated the advantages and disadvantages of online education standards confronted with online education technologies and digital contest.

Despite the fact that the coronavirus severely impacted all industries, the online learning system interestingly demonstrated lucrative opportunities for expansion in the midst of it all.

Scholars As End Users Controls A Large Online Education Market Share

Furthermore, end-users of e-learning approaches such as Academics (University Education, Vocational online Education, and K-12 Training), Business (Big Companies and Small and medium businesses), and Government have seen accelerated and transformative implementation for their end-use.

Lately, institutions of higher education learning such as Postsecondary online Education, Vocational Education, and K-12 Training around the globe have tailored their systems to e-learning, creating an interactive curriculum that has piqued the interest of researchers, education professionals, managers, lawmakers, media companies, and enterprises.

According to the evaluation, academics as end-users have a sizable market share in the global online education market, allowing for both live and recorded education modes of delivery as well as free access to on-demand discussion forums, chat sessions, and teleconferencing.

Technology for information and communication has advanced over time. As a result, e-learning has emerged as more viable in terms of technology, economy, and operation.

When talking about virtual class technologies, we are referring to all the digital e-learning platforms, Learning Management System (LMS), mobile e-learning, rapid e-learning, and synchronous virtual classroom tool that came to be thanks to significant advancements.

Furthermore, budgetary pressures and reward systems, a rise in non-traditional students who work full-time, and the developed technological environment render it simple to incorporate online certification at academic institutions.

The Global Online Learning Education Market In Asia-Pacific And North America

The Asian Pacific market and North American regions are the top global online education market in two regions.

As a fast-growing region, Asia-Pacific makes use of cutting-edge innovations which include the hybrid approach, innovative and distinctive subject areas, game-based learning, mentor learning, and profile charting.

Important motivators behind the rise of online learning in Asia-Pacific are the significant increase in growing internet penetration and mobile phone infiltration, digital-friendly government policy decisions, and the rising desire for ongoing training among working professionals and unemployed people looking for work.

Furthermore, regardless of an increasing or global online education market or increasing or decreasing overall university enrollments, the market growth of online schooling enrolment rates in the North American region is increasing every year.

In addition to that, the ongoing market expansion of internet-based programs and growing internet penetration, particularly for higher education, appears to be a possibility for countries such as the USA and Canada in the coming years.

How Big Is The Global Online Education Market?

The pervasiveness of information technology has influenced nearly every single aspect of our daily lives over these years, including our working mode, our communication with people, the way we process data into insights, the way we examine and exchange information, amuse ourselves, and experience traveling to other places.

Furthermore, the online evolution or revolution gave rise to e-mail, eCommerce, e-government, and, most recently, e-learning.

E-learning, also known as online education, is revolutionizing the way we perceive online education and remote learning.

E-learning constitutes a learning manner that is mediated by technology, and which has fantastic learning prospects. It is thus, justifiably, one of the most rapidly evolving industries in recent decades.

Expectations For Expansion

The global online education market is quickly expanding, which could be largely attributable to the extremely rapid pace of progress.

It is, however, critical to comprehend how the worldwide e-learning market industry has performed in the earlier years. It is equally important to value the projections made at the time.

This gives you an idea of the median level of success considering previous conditions.

In 2020, Udemy raised 50 million dollars, and its CEO claimed that skills that had been important the years before were no longer as vital as then.

The global online education market was worth almost 200 billion dollars in 2019.

In 2021, the international online education industry was estimated to be worth 269.87 billion dollars, and it is predicted to reach a double-digit CAGR of 13.8% between 2021 and 2027!

The mobile learning higher education industry was valued at 19.5 billion dollars, the value of the LMS (Learning Management System) was 18 billion dollars, whereas self-paced e-learning kept losing its power.

Important Corporations In The Online Education Market

Coursera, Udemy, Instructure Inc., Byju’s, Adobe Inc., as well as Alphabet Inc. are among the leading players.

Such businesses purposefully concentrate on producing creative online education and adaptive learning alternatives that will assist them in gaining a dynamic place in the global online education market.

Furthermore, a focus on inorganic strategic planning such as strategic partnerships, joint ventures, and acquisitions with technology partners is estimated to broaden their options and facilitate them in remaining competitive in the global online learning industry.

For example, in July 2021, BYJU’S paid 500 million dollars, both cash and stocks, to purchase the U.S.-based platform, Epic, which specializes in kids’ online education.

5 Tactical Moves That Could Open Doors To New Opportunities

Possible future market growth prospects for virtual classroom learning services exist among these online education market forces; however, effectively unlocking such potentials could necessitate suppliers taking significant strides in adapting and shifting initiatives.

Employers in industries ranging from healthcare to data security are having difficulty finding competent employees, and online learning can support adults of all ages in quickly acquiring the competencies required to take on these job roles and advance their careers.

Workers are also reassessing their job prospects and are seeking employment in higher-paying sectors.

To meet these expectations, draw potential participants’ interest, and distinguish themselves from their competitors, online learning companies should think about the following 5 key steps:

Address The Needs Of Students And The Employment Education Market

Historically, academic establishments have prioritized knowledge and learning acquisition over professions.

However, students, particularly possible future online students, are concerned with the return on investment of their degrees—specifically, what entry-level positions their degrees will provide them with.

Furthermore, workforce demand in the online education market is constantly shifting. Establishments, as a major source of skilled workforce, must adequately prepare their trainees for a rapidly changing workplace by reconsidering programs and diploma achievement.

Reshape Career Counselling And Planning Assistance

It is a fact that the biggest incentive for people to explore further online education opportunities is a derailed working life or an unsuccessful period of job hunting.

Digital learning services should constructively and steadily try to involve themselves with trainees to establish clear objectives, act to reach them, and adapt the program and curriculum as necessary with the purpose of providing learners with enhanced and more aligned career advancement and boosting job recruitment possibilities in high-paying roles.

Employer-Employee Relationships Need To Be Transformed

Online learning services are distinctively suited to form close business-to-business relationships with companies willing to train and develop their staff and recruit new, talented employees.

The capacity of such services to establish an appropriate curriculum, coupled with their track record of supporting adult learners who want to boost their career opportunities, demonstrates that such collaborations could be a significant catalyst for change.

Provide A Unique Educational Experience

The COVID-19 virus outbreak has affected consumer habits and demands in a wide range of industries, which include online education.

To satisfy emerging students’ needs, online education entities might wish to improve their general online experience along with all fundamental content delivery, establish teaching aids and infrastructural facilities, as well as implement user experience best practices.

Create A Distinct And Captivating Branding

Establishing a unique brand is more meaningful than ever before in today’s fiercely competitive online education market.

The success of the evolving college programs is partly if not wholly attributed to money invested in increasing broad-based recognition of their academic programs via advertising and marketing.

They were capable of increasing their visibility and incoming value, which eventually helped with increasing the enrolment rate, by achieving sustainability over time.

The Bottom Line

The online education market is one of the biggest markets nowadays and it will most probably keep growing exponentially.

However, there is plenty of room for improvement so the next few years will certainly bring about lots of changes in the digital learning ecosystem.