Online education will be a $2 bn Industry in India by 2021: Google, KPMG

BANGALORE: Online education industry will be a $1.96 billion industry by 2021 according to a research conducted by KPMG, along with with insights from Google search. The report finds that the paid user base will grow 6X from 1.6 million users in 2016 to 9.6 million users in 2021.
The report titled ‘Online Education in India: 2021’ highlights the growing influence of the Internet on the education industry in India.

The report reveals that over the last two years, there has been a 2x growth in online searches for education and a 3X growth in searches from a mobile device. Also, 44% of education searches are now coming from beyond the top 6 metros and there has been a 4X growth in education content consumption on YouTube in the last one year.

“The online education segment is set to become a multi-billion dollar opportunity in India. There are many factors driving this growth including the perceived convenience, increased reach and personalisation offered by online channels,”said Nitin Bawankule, Industry Director, Google India.

“It is also interesting to note, that high growth in education search queries is now coming in from Tier 2 and 3 cities such as Patna, Guwahati, Aligarh and Kota - which points to the opportunities that growing penetration of smartphones and improving quality of internet have opened up,” he added.

Reskilling and online certification is currently the largest segment in online education which was valued at $93 million in 2016 and is expected to grow 463 million by 2021.

However, primary and secondary education category has the largest addressable audience. With a student base of around 260 million it is likely to become the largest category by 2021 to reach $773 million users. Competitive exams and other test preparation which is a small segment as of today is likely to grow at a CAGR of 64 per cent to become a $515 million category in 2021.

“There are several evolving trends in the Indian online education segment that are contributing to the growth opportunities ahead. These include emergence of hybrid learning channels, continuous need for working professionals to learn new skills as well as emergence of technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence that is enabling online education vendors to design customized content," said Sreedhar Prasad, Partner, KPMG India, adding, "At the same time, it will be critical for players to deliver differentiated offerings for consumers to see continued value in online education channels"

The ‘Online Education in India 2021’ report is based on a primary qualitative and quantitative research that covered over 3,600 respondents across 27 geographies including metro and non-metros to understand the growth of consumer paid online education market in India by 2021. The respondents are in the age group of 16-45 years, both male and females, who are online / offline course takers/intenders and parents of primary/secondary courses.