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What is the most recent global market size for K-12 education and higher education respectively?
Based on 2017 data, the global market size for higher education is $1.9 trillion. This market is growing at a rate of 8% CAGR. Based on available data and a simple triangulation, I've estimated that the global market size for K-12 education is approximately $1.171 trillion. To ensure that my data was the most recent available, I filtered my searches during the research process, looking first at the past month and then working backwards month by month. You'll find a full explanation of my findings and calculations below.
findings
According to this press release from May of 2017, the global higher education market is worth approximately $1.9 trillion. It was projected to grow at a rate of 8% CAGR for 2017, which means we can estimate the 2018 market size at $2.05 trillion.
Despite extensive searching, I could not find a solid figure for the global K-12 education market size. Most data on this subject focuses on specific segments or products within the market, such as e-Learning. However, I was able to triangulate an estimate based on available data.
According to this report from the National Center for Education Statistics, the market size for public K-12 education in the U.S. is $634 billion. While this data is from the 2013-2014 school year, the report was published in May of 2017, indicating that the data is the most recent available. This market research report shows that the market size for private education in the U.S. is $69 billion as of 2017, giving us a total combined market size of $703 billion ($634 billion plus $69 billion).
To determine the global market size, I searched extensively for a way to compare the U.S. K-12 market size to the global market size. The best data I found looks at one segment of the K-12 education market, instructional materials. I was able to find this market size for both the U.S. and the global market, which allowed me to calculate a ratio for the two market sizes. The U.S. K-12 instructional materials market was worth $11.8 billion as of 2014. It grew by 9% that year, so if we make a conservative assumption that it is growing by 8% CAGR since then, we can estimate that this segment has grown from $11.8 billion in 2014 to $13.76 billion in 2016.
In 2016, the global K-12 instructional materials market was worth $20 billion. Based on this data, the U.S. accounts for 68% of the global K-12 instructional materials market. We can make a conservative guess based on this that the U.S. accounts for 60% of the global K-12 market overall. If this is true, the global K-12 market would be worth $1.171 trillion, based on a U.S. market size of $703 billion.
conclusion
To wrap up, the global market size for higher education is $1.9 trillion as of May 2017. The global market size for K-12 education is estimated at $1.171 trillion.