By Greg Hart, Coursera CEO
I’m excited to share the seventh version of Coursera’s annual World Abilities Report, providing complete insights on the ability calls for shaping the way forward for work. Drawing on knowledge from our neighborhood of greater than 170 million learners, this yr’s report reveals the place ability proficiency is rising across the globe, the place gaps stay, and what’s driving learner habits throughout 100+ international locations.
Generative AI (GenAI) has quickly gained each funding and business adoption. Developments on Coursera mirror this momentum, with GenAI enrollments surging by 195% year-over-year and surpassing 8 million in whole. In 2025, Coursera’s 700 GenAI programs have averaged 12 enrollments per minute—a dramatic enhance from 1 per minute in 2023 and eight in 2024—making GenAI the fastest-growing ability class on Coursera. India now has probably the most GenAI course enrollments of any nation, with over 1.3 million enrollments in 2024.
I’m significantly impressed by how on-line studying is making a stage taking part in discipline for tens of millions of learners throughout rising markets, particularly in new areas like GenAI. Previously yr, GenAI enrollment has greater than doubled throughout Asia Pacific, the Center East, and Africa. Latin America has seen a 425% enhance in GenAI enrollments, the very best wherever.
This yr’s ability proficiency rankings are primarily based on a strong methodology that mixes Coursera learner knowledge with trusted exterior indicators, together with World Financial institution metrics resembling their Human Capital Index and Labour Power Participation knowledge. The inclusion of this key third-party financial knowledge permits us to corroborate our on-platform scores with exterior metrics, capturing a extra holistic view of learner ability software within the financial system.
Key Findings:
- In our total international expertise rating, European nations occupy 9 of the highest ten ranks. Switzerland retains its standing on the prime of the rankings, with the Netherlands 2nd, and Sweden third.
- Singapore (4th) is APAC’s main expertise hotspot. Hong Kong (thirteenth), South Korea (14th), and Japan (seventeenth) additionally attain top-20 positions.
- In distinction, main Anglophone nations, resembling the UK (twenty second), Australia (twenty third), and United States (twenty seventh) rank decrease.
- Latin America’s highest-ranked nation is Peru (forty fifth), with Uruguay (forty ninth) additionally among the many prime 50. Learners within the area have acknowledged cybersecurity as a serious international expertise hole, with enrollments on this area from LATAM learners hovering 129% year-over-year (YOY).
- The United Arab Emirates (thirty eighth) is MENA’s expertise chief, intently adopted by Qatar (fortieth). GenAI enrollments surged 344% within the UAE and 165% in Saudi Arabia YOY, with learner behaviour aligning with important region-wide investments in AI and different digital applied sciences.
- Micro-credentials enhance learner employment outcomes, signalling key expertise to employers. Learners worldwide are responding.
- Coursera learner habits mirrors rising employer demand for candidates with micro-credentials, with Skilled Certificates enrollments rising throughout all areas.
- We now have now recorded over 15.4 million enrollments in our portfolio of Entry-Stage Skilled Certificates This consists of 37% progress in North America—the very best of any area—and 36% within the Center East and North Africa over the previous yr.
- Cybersecurity enrollments rise quickly, however nonetheless lag behind international workforce demand.
- Cybersecurity enrollments on Coursera rose in 2025—up 106% in Latin America, 20% in Europe, and 14% in Asia Pacific year-over-year.
- Nevertheless, almost 5 million further cybersecurity professionals are wanted worldwide, and fewer than half of organizations really feel “extremely ready” to defend towards AI-driven cyber threats.
- Girls’s participation in on-line studying grows, however GenAI gender gaps persist
- Girls now signify 46% of Coursera’s international learner base, with some international locations demonstrating gender parity or greater.
- For instance, 56% of Kazakhstan’s Coursera learners are feminine, and ladies comprise 43% of the nation’s learners in GenAI programs. Nevertheless, the worldwide common for the feminine share of enrollments in GenAI programs on Coursera stays 32%.
- Offering versatile credentials, confidence-building sources, and extra feminine function fashions is essential to reaching inclusive AI-driven progress worldwide.
To higher assess international AI readiness, we’ve additionally launched an AI Maturity Index, which enhances our nation rankings for proficiency in enterprise, know-how, and knowledge expertise. The Index combines learner knowledge with metrics from the Worldwide Financial Fund and Organisation for Financial Co-operation and Improvement to rank international locations worldwide on AI analysis and innovation. Leaders around the globe can use it to determine AI studying hotspots, perceive regional progress, and pinpoint AI expertise hubs.
Nations main in our new AI Maturity Index—which highlights international locations finest outfitted to harness AI innovation and translate expertise into real-world purposes—embrace Singapore (#1), Denmark (#2), Switzerland (#3), the USA (#4), and Finland (#5). European nations additionally stand out on this index, occupying 8 of the highest 10 ranks.
The Coursera World Abilities Report 2025 affords a transparent name to motion — whether or not you’re shaping nationwide training coverage, constructing company studying applications, or aligning educational curricula with real-world wants. Coursera is dedicated to partnering with leaders throughout areas and sectors to attain a extra inclusive, promising future for staff around the globe.
