Online Education Market Opportunities and Strategies to 2033

This report describes and explains the online education market and covers 2018-2023, termed the historic period, and 2023-2028, 2033F termed the forecast period. The report evaluates the market across each region and for the major economies within each region.

The global online education market reached a value of nearly $55.6 billion in 2023, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.30% since 2018. The market is expected to grow from $55.6 billion in 2023 to $160.3 billion in 2028 at a rate of 23.60%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.22% from 2028 and reach $474 billion in 2033.

Growth in the historic period resulted from the increased consumer preference for online education, strong economic growth in emerging markets and rising internet penetration. Factors that negatively affected growth in the historic period include data privacy concerns.

Going forward, the increasing deployment of 5G technology, rising digital transformation, increased penetration of smartphones and laptops and increasing urbanization will drive the market. Factors that could hinder the growth of the online education market in the future include high cost of online courses.

The online education market is segmented by category into primary and secondary supplemental education, higher education, test preparation, reskilling and online certification, and language and casual learning. The primary and secondary supplemental education market was the largest segment of the online education market segmented by category, accounting for 34.51% or $19.2 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the reskilling and online certification segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the online education market segmented by category, at a CAGR of 26.62% during 2023-2028.

The online education market is segmented by device into laptop, mobile, and personal computer. The laptop market was the largest segment of the online education market segmented by device, accounting for 43.39% or $24.1 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the mobile segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the online education market segmented by device, at a CAGR of 26.39% during 2023-2028.

The online education market is segmented by end user into academic, corporate, and government. The academic market was the largest segment of the online education market segmented by end user, accounting for 56.02% or $31.1 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the corporate segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the online education market segmented by end user, at a CAGR of 25.00% during 2023-2028.

The online education market is segmented by technology into mobile e-learning, learning management system, application simulation tool, rapid e-learning, podcast, and virtual classroom. The mobile e-learning market was the largest segment of the online education market segmented by technology, accounting for 29.86% or $16.6 billion of the total in 2023. Going forward, the mobile e-learning segment is expected to be the fastest growing segment in the online education market segmented by technology, at a CAGR of 26.41% during 2023-2028.

North America was the largest region in the online education market, accounting for 33.35% or $18.5 billion of the total in 2023. It was followed by Asia-Pacific, Western Europe and then the other regions. Going forward, the fastest-growing regions in the online education market will be Asia-Pacific and South America, where growth will be at CAGRs of 28.80% and 24.06% respectively. These will be followed by the Middle East and Africa, where the markets are expected to grow at CAGRs of 23.99% and 22.74% respectively.

The global online education market is highly fragmented, with a large number of players operating in the market. The top ten competitors in the market made up to 15.22% of the total market in 2023. Blackboard Inc (now Anthology Inc.) was the largest competitor with a 2.29% share of the market, followed by McGraw-Hill Education Inc. with 2.29%, Stride Inc. with 2.20%, TAL Education Group with 1.56%, 2U, Inc. with 1.36%, Edureka Technologies Pvt Ltd. with 1.35%, Coursera Inc. with 1.14%, Udemy Inc. with 1.12%, VIPKid International Inc. with 1.01% and LinkedIn Learning (formerly Lynda.com) with 0.88%.

The top opportunities in the online education market segmented by category will arise in the test preparation segment, which will gain $31.9 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the online education market segmented by device will arise in the mobile segment, which will gain $43.3 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the online education market segmented by end user will arise in the academic segment, which will gain $58.3 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The top opportunities in the online education market segmented by technology will arise in the mobile e-learning segment, which will gain $37 billion of global annual sales by 2028. The online education market size will gain the most in the USA at $25.6 billion.

Market-trend-based strategies for online education market include focus on revolutionizing virtual classrooms with interactive learning environments, introducing diverse courses for aspiring students, launching innovative online undergraduate programs, developing new learning and training solutions to bridge the skills gap, expanding online learning platforms into business education and innovative technology advancements such as customizable assessment solutions to increase profitability in the market.

Player-adopted strategies in the online education market include focus on enhancing operational capabilities by developing new product solutions and enhancing business operations through strategic partnerships.

To take advantage of the opportunities, the analyst recommends the online education companies to focus on enhancing engagement through interactive learning, focus on expanding course diversity to enhance accessibility, focus on launching flexible, skill-oriented programs, focus on developing comprehensive learning solutions, focus on expanding online learning platforms, focus on innovative assessment solutions, focus on reskilling and online certification segment, expand in emerging markets, continue to focus on developed markets, focus on expanding distribution channels, focus on competitive pricing strategies, focus on targeted digital marketing, focus on strategic partnerships to expand promotional reach and focus on targeting corporate users in online education.