Updated September 2026. Online learning has become much more common, but the available statistics need careful interpretation. Eurostat can compare online-course and online-learning participation across European countries, while OECD data provide strong age comparisons for adult learning more broadly. There is no single internationally standardized dataset that measures online-course completion rates by age, country and year in a directly comparable way.
This article therefore separates three different questions: Who participates in online learning? How does participation vary by country? How does learning participation vary by age? Completion rates are discussed separately because platforms and institutions define completion differently.
Online Learning in 2025: The EU Snapshot
Eurostat reports that in 2025, 34.8% of EU internet users had taken an online course or used online learning materials. That was up from 33.4% in 2024 and 21.4% in 2019.
Looking specifically at complete online courses, 17.3% of EU internet users reported taking an online course in 2025.
Source: Eurostat, Online learning increasingly popular in the EU, 2026.
Online Learning Participation by Country
The 2025 Eurostat results show large differences between countries. These figures refer to internet users who took an online course or used online learning materials.
| Country | Online course or learning-material participation, 2025 |
|---|---|
| Netherlands | 60.2% |
| Ireland | 59.7% |
| Finland | 50.7% |
| Sweden | 50.6% |
| EU average | 34.8% |
| Cyprus | 21.0% |
| Bulgaria | 18.4% |
| Romania | 11.8% |
The spread is substantial. In the leading countries, around half or more of internet users engaged with online courses or learning materials, while participation was below one-fifth in the lowest-participation countries.
How Has Online Learning Changed Over Time?
Eurostat’s comparable EU series shows a clear long-term rise:
- 2019: 21.4% of EU internet users took an online course or used online learning materials.
- 2024: 33.4%.
- 2025: 34.8%.
The growth is not simply a pandemic effect. Participation remained well above the 2019 baseline several years later.
Online Learning by Age: What Can We Compare?
Current standardized age-by-age online-learning data are not published in one simple global table. However, both historical Eurostat online-learning data and current OECD adult-learning data show the same broad pattern: younger adults participate more than older adults.
Historical Eurostat online-learning age benchmark
In 2021, Eurostat reported the following online-course participation pattern:
| Age group | Took an online course | Used online learning materials |
|---|---|---|
| 16-24 | 39% | 49% |
| 25-34 | 23% | 27% |
| 35-44 | 20% | 23% |
| 65-74 | 3% | 4% |
These figures should be treated as a historical benchmark, not as 2025 or 2026 estimates. Source: Eurostat online education data.
Current Adult Learning Participation by Age
The OECD’s 2025 Trends in Adult Learning report uses the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills to compare formal and non-formal job-related adult learning. This is broader than online learning, but it provides a high-quality current age comparison.
| Age group | Adult learning participation, OECD average |
|---|---|
| 25-34 | 51% |
| 35-54 | 43% |
| 55-65 | 26% |
OECD reports that younger adults consistently participate more in adult learning than older adults across the countries covered by its surveys. Source: OECD: Who is missing out?.
Country Differences in Adult Learning
The OECD data also show wide country variation. Around 40% of adults participate in formal or non-formal adult learning each year on average across the OECD countries covered by the survey, but national rates range from about 58% in Finland and Norway to 13% in Korea.
This is not an online-only measure. It includes formal and non-formal job-related learning and should therefore not be compared directly with Eurostat’s online-course percentages.
Source: OECD, Trends in Adult Learning.
Why Completion Rates Are Harder to Compare
Online-course completion sounds like a simple metric, but it is not standardized across providers.
- A university may define completion as finishing a credit-bearing course.
- A MOOC platform may count completion as watching a share of lessons or earning a certificate.
- An employer may define completion as attendance, assessment completion or passing a required score.
- Self-paced courses often allow learners to consume only the modules they need without formally completing the course.
Because the denominator and completion rule vary, a 40% completion rate on one platform may not be comparable with a 40% completion rate on another.
What Drives the Age Gap?
OECD research identifies several recurring patterns behind lower adult-learning participation at older ages. Younger adults often have stronger incentives to invest in skills early in their careers, while older adults may face competing work, family or retirement priorities. Participation also differs by educational attainment, literacy proficiency, labour-force status and access to employer-supported learning.
The age gap is not fixed. OECD reports that the difference between younger and older learners has narrowed in several countries over the past decade, although in some cases this reflects falling participation among younger groups rather than rapid growth among older adults.
A better framework for comparing online-learning participation
Online-learning statistics are easy to overinterpret because different datasets measure different behaviours. A survey asking whether someone used the internet for a course in the previous three months is not measuring the same thing as a platform’s enrolment count, a university’s online-student share or an employer’s learning-management-system completion rate.
Before comparing two percentages, check the population. Is the denominator all adults, internet users, employed people, students, registered learners or survey respondents? Country comparisons can be distorted if one dataset covers the whole adult population while another covers only people already participating in education.
Next, check the definition of online learning. Some sources count formal online courses. Others include tutorials, webinars, employer training or any learning activity delivered over the internet. Broader definitions usually produce higher participation rates.
The time window also matters. “Used online learning in the past three months” cannot be compared directly with “completed at least one online course during the year.” A short window is more sensitive to when the survey happened and to seasonal education patterns.
Age comparisons require similar caution. Lower participation among older adults can reflect differences in labour-force participation, access, confidence with digital tools, employer training opportunities, education level and the relevance of available programmes. The number alone does not identify the cause.
Finally, participation is not completion, and completion is not learning. Providers evaluating their own programmes should separate enrolment, meaningful engagement, completion, assessment performance, workplace application and longer-term outcomes. Public participation statistics are useful for understanding access and adoption, but they do not prove that a particular online-learning format is effective.
A defensible comparison therefore states the source, year, population, question wording and measurement window next to the number. That small discipline prevents many misleading charts and makes cross-country or age-group differences much easier to interpret.
How to Use These Statistics Correctly
- Check the denominator. Is the percentage based on all adults, internet users or employed adults?
- Check the activity. Taking a full online course is different from using online learning material.
- Check the time window. Eurostat often asks about activity in the previous three months, while OECD adult-learning measures may use a 12-month period.
- Check the age band. A 16-24 group should not be compared directly with a 25-34 group without explanation.
- Keep completion separate from participation. Completion rules are provider-specific unless a study defines a common measure.
What the Data Suggest for Learning Providers
Online learning is now a mainstream learning channel in many countries, but participation remains highly unequal. Younger learners generally engage more, and countries differ markedly in the reach of online education.
For training providers, the practical implication is not simply to move more courses online. Access, digital confidence, scheduling flexibility, relevance to work, instructor support and the usability of the learning platform all influence whether adults participate and continue learning.
Primary Sources
- Eurostat: Online learning increasingly popular in the EU, 2025 data
- Eurostat: Online learning by age, historical 2021 comparison
- OECD: Trends in Adult Learning, 2025
- OECD Education at a Glance 2025: adult participation
Related MATSH research
For accessible digital-learning design, see Accessible Online Learning in Africa. For broader digital-literacy programme design, see Digital Literacy for Youth in Africa.
Need In-House Training?
We run all our courses as private programmes for organisations across the GCC and Africa.
Request In-House →