Global E-Learning Market Outlook, 2027

The advent of the E-learning concept dates back to 1999, when renowned educator and researcher Elliot Masie first used the term at a Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) seminar. E-learning has since evolved incredibly in the education, training, and business sectors. It offers numerous advantages over traditional education, such as self-paced learning and cost-effectiveness. Moreover, it allows students to choose their own learning environments and eliminates various geographical barriers associated with classroom learning. Learning Management Systems (LMS) form the core of e-learning. These systems are based on software that enables the documentation, automation, tracking, and delivery of educational courses. The best-known LMSs include Adobe Captivate Prime, Blackboard Learn, Moodle, Simplilearn, Canvas, Talent LMS, SAP Litmos LMS, and LearnUpon LMS. Moreover, the e-learning market's growth has been synonymous with the rise in educational technology (edtech) platforms, including Coursera, edX, Byju’s, Udemy, Unacademy, Knowbox, and Udacity.

According to the report, "Global E-Learning Market Outlook, 2027" published by Bonafide Research, the market stood at around USD 252 Billion in 2021, which is anticipated to reach near USD 479 Billion during the forecast period, registering a CAGR of more than 11% for 2022-2027. The introduction of new technologies like AI, VR, and LMS drove the market's growth. The emergence of an AI-enabled solution aids the development of smart content, digitized study guides, and real-time questioning. Immersive technologies are enhancing communication, collaboration, and building stronger engagement during the session. Such benefits are to encourage the focus on implementing better technologies to improve the learning experience.

Based on technology, the virtual classroom segment dominates the market, holding nearly 40% of the market. The online education market and content delivery are seeing a paradigm shift from content delivery to quick interactive learning platforms, allowing the rapid e-learning segment to grow with prominent market share during the forecast period. The increasing focus on mobile-learning and cloud infrastructure adoption to derive scalability will create lucrative opportunities for leading online education companies in the market. The m-learning segment is expected to show a shift of USD 65 billion from 2016 to 2027.

E-learning has proved to be the best means in the corporate sector, especially when training programs are conducted for professionals across the globe, making it possible for the employees to acquire skills under one roof. The corporate end-user segment accounted for a market share of nearly 40% in the year 2021, with large enterprises leading the segment. The schools which use e-learning technologies are a step ahead of those which still have the traditional approach towards learning. The academic segment leads the market, with a higher preference towards vocational training courses. Based on provider segmentation, the content category accounts for a larger market share.

Globally, North America accounts for a clear majority, closely followed by Europe. Because of the region's price sensitivity, the Asia e-learning market is dominated by low- and moderately priced course modules. The market, although smaller than the market in North America, is displaying impressive growth driven by some structural changes in key countries such as India and China. For instance, Indian students are the second-largest users of online courses provided by Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology. This has encouraged universities to provide students with various affordable online learning courses in this region. Further, the US is the largest self-paced learning market, with the potential to radically influence the prospects in the industry. Together, public and private investments constitute an annual flow of about USD 1.3 trillion into the country’s education system. A significant amount of it is channelized to improve the effectiveness of conventional learning and training methods. High industry competition is forcing emerging players to introduce innovative services in order to strengthen their position and increase market share. The rising internet penetration across the globe will drive the industry's growth. The growing telecom and broadband sector has increased access to low-cost internet connectivity plans. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in 2021, nearly 4.9 billion individuals used the internet globally, compared to 4.1 billion in 2019. With the increasing number of internet users, more people will be able to access e-learning platforms for learning courses or completing degrees.



One of the key growth drivers of the e-learning market is increasing internet, mobile, and smartphone usage. This has transformed the way content is delivered, but it has also evolved the method by continually increasing bandwidth and lowering data prices. New standards for corporate learning and training are being developed due to improved technological applications. It aids in the transformation of old ways of doing things when businesses face challenges from rapid changes like those brought on by breakthrough technologies. Remote working and telecommuting are becoming increasingly popular as companies become more international and globalized. E-learning is transforming the educational system by facilitating more significant connections and fostering a collaborative future for learning. IoT plays a vital part in making schools more intelligent and more connected. Smart classrooms are revolutionizing education in both public and private schools. Schools are getting more technologically adept with new tools and strategies available.

The Internet of Things (IoT) has aided the shift from teacher-centered to student-centered education. It is revolutionizing education by providing benefits such as efficient management, concrete learning, interactive sessions, and tractable results. In conjunction with artificial intelligence, IoT allows for more efficient energy consumption, improved home security, and faster data and multimedia streaming. The e-learning market is growing as a result of these improvements in IoT. The internet and smart-phones grow, the desire for seamless connectivity across electronic devices increases. The key drivers of increasing connectivity are evolving cloud infrastructure and low data prices, driven by large quantities, since they address various concerns linked to cost, scalability, security, and efficiency. The number and capabilities of solutions hosted on connectivity-enhancing platforms grow in lockstep with the number of connected devices. This has spawned a slew of new business opportunities, ranging from streaming webinars that expand the availability of high-quality educational content from prestigious colleges to delivering much-needed medical advice to far-flung locations worldwide. More than a hundred start-ups and providers are working on AR and VR-based educational content. In 2016, these businesses received USD 84 million in funding. The diversification of traditional ed-tech players and corporate investment interests are expected to propel it to at least a 20-fold increase during the projection period.

Online learning is a cost-effective way for people to access training and education and an effective way for brands and governments to deliver it. With more and more solutions making it easy to create online courses, and the internet helping promote and deliver them, e-learning is growing right around the world. However, poor Internet connectivity in remote locations, the absence of peer-to-peer interaction, and several adaptability issues have significantly hindered global market growth. Government agencies all over the world are realizing the value of employee training. This is also due to the fact that they must compete with the private sector, which has gone to great lengths to implement the most cutting-edge technology. Government agencies must train their employees in order to compete with private businesses. This sector employs a large number of people in the United States who work for federal, state, and local governments. The government must make eLearning a requirement for all organizations that distribute funds. This is due to the fact that the employees of these agencies are responsible for overseeing the disbursement of funds.
The growing demand for soft skills training is expected to drive the e-learning market. Among the most important workplace skills are critical thinking, problem-solving, people management, and creativity. Employers are looking for young professionals who can make difficult decisions and show leadership potential. Students and working professionals are turning to online websites for soft-skill training. This factor is expected to propel the e-learning market forward.

The e-learning market is expected to grow due to the rise in demand for micro-credentials and lifelong education. The advantage of online learning is that it's very accessible and simple to complete in any circumstance. When compared to previous years, the time required to complete an online course has decreased dramatically. People from all walks of life have been clamoring for an education that is participatory, enjoyable, and simple to grasp, while also avoiding direct contact with the educator. Institutional investment in micro-credential courses is also expected to increase as a result of labor market changes. These courses are frequently low-cost options that focus on a small portion of the subject matter over a short period of time. Micro-credentials like these could help international students save money while learning critical skills in emerging industries.

Gamification can be useful for learning on its own, but game-based learning enhances the effectiveness of online learning tools significantly. According to studies, game-based learning can help students learn more by assisting them in strategizing, developing problem-solving skills, and rethinking their previous approaches to a task in order to improve future methods. Thus, the gamification trend is expected to create lucrative opportunities for the e-learning market players.

COVID-19 Impacts:
The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed the e-learning market with the closure of schools and universities globally. In March 2020, over 1.2 billion students in 186 countries were affected by school closures due to the pandemic. The e-learning market has witnessed significant growth in the past few years. Moreover, due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the market witnessed a sudden boost in 2020. This is attributed to the implementation of various skill enhancement campaigns by governments in the majority of the countries and businesses across the globe. The e-learning industry is projected to prosper in the COVID-19 situation owing to an increase in investment in skill assessment technology for better understanding of the employees on an emotional and cultural scale. Furthermore, to sustain in the competitive market, the majority of EdTech have shifted toward digitalization to provide online services, helping employees and students to compare their skill levels and choose the right options and offers to carry out assessment processes online. It has become clear that COVID-19 would have long-term impacts on lives and economies by increasing the demand for e-learning, with a rise in demand for skilled labor and growth in government effort to elevate the overall worker level, which positively impacts the growth of the market. Employee safety concerns have prompted corporations to implement work-from-home policies in order to continue day-to-day operations. This has created barriers for companies in terms of training, communication, monitoring progress, and up-skilling, supporting the demand for e-learning platforms among large enterprises and SMEs. To cater to the growing demand, several companies are focusing on developing customized learning solutions. For instance, in April 2021, LinkedIn Corporation announced its plans for an online portal designed for enterprises to provide their staff with training videos and materials on subjects such as management strategy and machine learning.

Major Companies Present In the Market
Adobe Inc., Aptara inc. (iEnergizer), Blackboard Inc., Cisco systems Inc., Citrix system Inc., Docebo Inc., Gp Strategies Corporation, Oracle corporation, Pearson plc, Skillsoft Corporation

Considered In the Report
• Geography: Global
• Historical year: 2016
• Base year: 2021
• Estimated year: 2022
• Forecasted year: 2027

Regions & Countries covered:
• North America (USA, Canada, Mexico)
• Europe (Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Russia)
• Asia-Pacific (India, Japan, Australia, China)
• South America (Brazil, Argentina, Columbia)
• Middle East & Africa (UAE, Saudi Arabia, South Africa)

Aspects Covered In the Report
• Market Size By Value for the historic time period (2016-2021)
• Market Size By Value for the forecast time period (2022-2027)
• Market Share by Technology (Online e-learning, LMS (Learning management system), Mobile e-learning, Rapid e-learning, Virtual classroom, Others)
• Market Share by Producers (Service & Content)
• Market Share by Application (Academic, K-12, Higher education, Vocational training, Corporate, SMBs, Large enterprises, Government)
• Market Share by Country (2016, 2021 & 2027F)

The approach of the report:
We keep an eye on evolving markets and try to evaluate the potential of the products and services. If we find the market interesting, we start working on it and create the desired table of content, considering all aspects of the business. We start by creating separate questionnaires for C-level executives, national/regional sales personnel, company owners, dealers, distributors, and end-users. Once the questionnaires have been finalized, we start collecting the primary data (mostly through phone calls) and try to understand the market dynamics regionally or tier-wise. This process gives us in-depth details of the market, including all present companies, the top-performing products with reasons why they dominate; we get the details of new players and their innovative approaches; market trends; dynamics; and all the small details of the market. After the collection of primary inputs, we then cross-check the same with secondary sources that include associations, trade journals, annual reports, paid databases, newspapers, magazines, press releases, government sources, etc. From this, we get a rough estimate of the market and start checking existing product price variants, trade, production, raw material scenarios, policies and regulatory landscape, etc. Then, to finalize the market, we start collecting financials of each player present in the market, including limited, private limited, and LLPs. Moreover, we perform cross-industry and cross-region analysis of the product, and based on collected primary inputs and using statistical modeling, we start forecasting the market. We follow our forecasting algorithm, which is unique for each product but gives more weight age to primary inputs. At the same time, the content team starts preparing company profiles, market dynamics, market trends, five forces, PEST analysis, etc. Once the data is verified by the data expert, the team (primary team, content team, and data team) together crosscheck the segmentations, validate the market, and then the designing team starts plotting the graphs. Once the file is ready, the content team completes the report and makes sure that all the discussed points have been covered and provides their valuable inputs in the form of strategic recommendations for new as well as existing players. The QC team then checks the overall report that includes spell check, data verification, and makes the same dispatch ready and error-free.

Intended Audience
This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations & organizations related to the E-learning industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing & presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.