Statistics in the coaching industry in Australia and worldwide
Overview
The international coaching Federation put out its global coaching study from 2023 in which it sourced its information from 14,500 responses across 153 countries.
The study indicates that coaching has increased by approximately 33% globally since 2015, taking the number to the current 109,000 certified coaches in 2023.
It is estimated that the market size of the coaching industry in 2023 is approximately (all $ is in Australian) $3.6 billion. This factors in a yearly growth rate over the last 8 years of 6.7%. The estimated future growth rate, with a compound annual growth rate, is predicted to be 13.9% by 2034.
In addition, the online coaching platforms are projected to increase from nearly $3 billion in 2020 to $6.7 billion by 2028.
These projections demonstrate a strong growth trajectory for the coaching industry, which is driven both by coaching services and the ongoing emergence and innovation of coaching platforms.
Despite the challenges of the covid-19 pandemic, the coaching industry is reported to be the second fastest growth sector in the world,
Geography & Client numbers
Areas of notable expansion were Asia, up by almost 90%, the Middle East and Africa are up by 75%, eastern Europe which is up almost 60% up and areas such as Oceania, western Europe and North America, were all up by approximately 50%.
As of 2022, more than half of coaching practitioners stated that clients were predominantly managers at 31% and executives at 25%, demonstrating a rise from 2015 of more than 50%. On average, coach practitioners reported that their sponsored clients were in the vicinity of 57% and primary clients were at 43%.
Not only are women coaches overrepresented, making up 51% of the global practitioner population, but female clients make up 57% of those coached. This figure is unchanged from 2019.
Oceania, which includes Australia and New Zealand, contributed 3% of all the responses of the study which equates to approximately 450 responses.
The research indicates that business and executive coaching extends across numerous sectors, including corporate, government, non-profit and entrepreneurial businesses. Broadly speaking, the goal for clients is unlocking their leadership potential, fostering skill development, achieving professional and organisational goals, and overcoming challenges. More specifically it is to assist clients in ways for them to have open discussions (non – judgement, acknowledgement, feedback, validation etc), a space for them to think and reflect, to support a way they can balance or integrate their work and their personal lives, and to improve both the company/organisation performance while simultaneously working on confidence and isolation issues.
The Motivation and Outcomes of Coaching
Outcomes are normally measured through certain indicators and frameworks including but not limited to: goal achievement, feedback and scores, the (behavioural) change in the executive or manager, performance and outcomes, and of course ROI – return on investment.
ROI
- A MetrixGlobal study found that executive coaching has a 788% ROI based on factors including increases in productivity and employee retention 3.
- The benefits from employee retention, a 529% ROI was delivered 2.
- Improvements in individual, team, and organisational performance, with a 70% increase in individual performance, 50% increase in team performance, and 48% increase in organisational performance 3.
- Standalone management training results in a 22% boost in productivity, while executive coaching can lead to an 88% increase 4.
Historically the ROI of coaching has not been measured effectively, but there is a growing understanding of the importance of measuring coaching’s ROI to validate the costs spent on coaching employees 5.
Concerns
It is important to note that the coaching industry is completely unregulated – globally. In reality, anyone can call themselves a business coach. So, the actual numbers of individual practising coaching may in fact be higher. Some coaches hold certifications from professional bodies, e.g., International Coaching Federation, European Mentoring and Coaching Council etc. Coaches with university qualifications are not available.
The majority of coaches, 80%, agreed that there was an expectation by their clients for them to be certified or hold some type of credentials. Approximately 85% of the coaches spoken to in the survey said that they were a member of one or more of the coaching organisations globally.
2. https://www.rhythmsystems.com/blog/the-roi-of-executive-coaching
4 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/maximizing-returns-impact-executive-coaching-roi-bettermanager/
5 https://www.betterup.com/blog/daily-coaching-daily-dividends-on-the-roi-of-coaching
