The pie charts compare the ways in which adults learned new skills in 2010 and 2023.
Overall, there was a dramatic move away from traditional methods towards digital learning. Classroom study, which had been the leading method in 2010, was replaced by online courses in 2023.
In 2010 classroom learning was the most popular approach, used by 44% of adults, followed by learning on the job with 25% and learning from books with 18%. Online courses and videos were of marginal importance, at 8% and 5% respectively. By 2023 the classroom share had fallen to 18%, less than half of its earlier level, and books had declined from 18% to just 6%.
Online methods, in contrast, expanded rapidly. Online courses rose from 8% to 30%, making them the largest category, while videos increased almost fivefold, from 5% to 24%. Together, these two digital methods accounted for 54% of the total in 2023, compared with 13% in 2010.
Learning on the job was the most stable method, falling only slightly, from 25% to 22%, and it was the third most common in 2023.