As has been the trend for several years now, the global LMS market continues to grow from strength to strength, the overall market is growing in size and according to IBIS Capital, 41.7% of Fortune 500 companies use e-learning tools for online training.
What is an LMS?
A Learning Management System (LMS) is a software application utilized primarily for the documentation, administration, tracking, automation, reporting and delivery of educational courses and training programs.
Current LMS Market
In the year 2022 the global LMS market was worth approximately $16.19 billion. The North America region made up a significant portion of that figure with a market value of over $6 billion. It is thought that 34% of the coming growth will originate in the North America region. The global LMS market is set to almost triple over the next 7 years to $40.95 billion in the year 2029 with some analysts presenting even more optimistic predictions.
Even if we were to assume to attainment of the more modest estimates this represents a compounded annual growth rate of approximately 14.2%. We need to bear in mind that back in 2013 the global LMS market worth a mere $2.5 billion which gives a clear idea of how far we have come.
2023 LMS Trends
Trends such as gamification, micro-learning, asynchronous training and soft-skills training are set to continue to grow across the industry. In addition, although earlier in its maturity, learning which leverages Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) is also set to keep growing. (Source: SkyQuest Technology Pvt Ltd.)
If there is one thing that the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has taught us it is that organizations now need to be ready to switch their learning to a remote structure as and when needed and this has driven certain learning trends such as mobile learning (m-learning).
In addition, during the pandemic we witnessed a significant increase in the number of people utilizing their free time to pursue e-learning. If nothing else, the pandemic has served as an accelerator of sorts for the industry and one which spanned the entire globe. Indeed ‘learning management system’ as a keyword is typically searched over 8,000 times per month on Google. (Source: Ahrefs)
Upcoming LMS Industry Growth
Today, about 21% of the global LMS market is dedicated towards the education industry. Much of the growth of this sector has been driven by an increased number of universities providing e-learning and also m-learning (mobile learning) via tablets and mobile phones.
As adoption increases so does a desire for more and more efficient and easy to use LMS solutions. Currently, while 98% of large companies currently use an LMS to deliver their training and 96% of midsize companies also use an LMS, over 48% of companies would like to find a new LMS.
Expanding out of North America
While North America has traditionally been a key region of growth, other areas around the globe are now starting to catch up to this trend. The continent of Africa is also witnessing growth as internet access and mobile device usage expands. At present, out of the top 20 countries with the highest e-learning growth rates in the world, a total of 8 are in continent of Africa.
The countries with the highest growth rates in the region are Uganda, Ghana, Rwanda, and Senegal at 45.7%, 44.5%, 42.9%, and 39.9%, respectively. With South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco generating the largest revenues for self-paced learning.
For LMS providers this signals nothing short of limitless opportunity.
Looking further east, the APAC region includes countries such as South Korea, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, India and China. With a population of over 4.5 billion people this region also has experienced immense growth. China accounts for the highest percentage of learning management systems market share.
However, the penetration level of LMS is lower as compared to developed countries such as Australia and Japan. The APAC market is expected to grow to more than $13 Billion by 2029.
With all this expansion it is safe to say that the projections for global growth of the LMS market look extremely bright and positive.