GMAC posted latest stats for the 2008-2009 year. Test volume is up, though slightly: 2,300 more tests were taken in 2008-2009 than 2007-2008 years. The full article is available here.
Some interesting facts:
Beyond growing larger, the GMAT testing pool is becoming more international and increasingly diverse. According to analyses of the most recent GMAT testing year, which ran from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2009, approximately 51 percent of the exams administered during the period were taken by citizens of nations other than the United States. This is the first time since the GMAT’s creation in 1954 that non-U.S. test takers have accounted for a majority of exams during a testing year.
The figures show that China and India have played a particularly large role in the globalization of management education. The number of GMAT exams taken by Chinese citizens rose 35 percent in testing year 2009 compared with the year before, to 23,550; the number is up 181 percent since 2005, when it was 8,393. Tests taken by citizens of India were up 7 percent in testing year 2009, to 30,633, capping a 128 percent increase during the past five years.
The number of GMAT exams taken by women hit a record 104,880 during testing year 2009, an increase of 36 percent during the past five years and the first time female test takers have exceeded 100,000 in a single testing year. The number of GMAT test takers under 24 grew to 79,577 in 2009, a 132 percent increase from 2005.
Testing volume among minorities is also increasing. The number of African Americans taking the GMAT is up 27 percent since 2005, to 10,751, while Hispanic American testing levels have grown 16 percent during the period, to 7,339. In addition, the number of exams administered to people with undergraduate backgrounds in fields other than business, such as journalism, medicine and English, is also growing rapidly.
