In the past five decades, the global literacy rate among adults has grown from 67 percent in 1976 to 87.36 percent in 2023. In 1976, males had a literacy rate of 76 percent, compared to a rate of 58 percent among females. This difference of over 17 percent in 1976 has fallen to just seven percent in 2020. Although gaps in literacy rates have fallen across all regions in recent decades, significant disparities remain across much of South Asia and Africa, while the difference is below one percent in Europe and the Americas. Reasons for these differences are rooted in economic and cultural differences across the globe. In poorer societies, families with limited means are often more likely to invest in their sons' education, while their daughters take up a more domestic role. Varieties do exist on national levels, however, and female literacy levels can sometimes exceed the male rate even in impoverished nations, such as Lesotho (where the difference was over 17 percent in 2014); nonetheless, these are exceptions to the norm.

There is a gender gap in the global literacy rate. Although literacy rates have generally increased worldwide for both men and women, men are on average more literate than women. As of 2023, about 90.6 percent of men and a little less than 84.1 percent of women worldwide were literate. Adult literacy rate is defined as the percentage of people aged 15 years and above who can both read and write with understanding a short, simple statement about their everyday life. Youth literacy rate Not only does the literacy gender gap concern adults, it also exists among the world’s younger generations aged 15 to 24. Despite an overall increase in literacy, young men are still more literate than young women. In fact, the global youth literacy rate as gender parity index was 0.98 as of 2023, indicating that young women are not yet as literate as young men. Gender pay gap Gender gaps occur in many different spheres of global society. One such issue concerns salary gender gaps in professional life. Regarding the controlled gender pay gap, which measures the median salary for men and women with the same job and qualifications, women still earned less than men as of 2024. The difference was even bigger when measuring the median salary for all men and women. However, not everyone worries about gender pay gaps. According to a survey from 2021, 54 percent of the female respondents deemed the gender pay gap a real problem, compared to 45 percent of the male respondents.

The average for 2021 based on 58 countries was 92.58 percent. The highest value was in Romania: 100 percent and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 42 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

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The average for 2021 based on 13 countries was 86.52 percent. The highest value was in Uzbekistan: 100 percent and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 37 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Literacy in India has been increasing as more and more people receive a better education, but it is still far from all-encompassing. In 2023, the degree of literacy in India was about 77 percent, with the majority of literate Indians being men. It is estimated that the global literacy rate for people aged 15 and above is about 86 percent. How to read a literacy rateIn order to identify potential for intellectual and educational progress, the literacy rate of a country covers the level of education and skills acquired by a country’s inhabitants. Literacy is an important indicator of a country’s economic progress and the standard of living – it shows how many people have access to education. However, the standards to measure literacy cannot be universally applied. Measures to identify and define illiterate and literate inhabitants vary from country to country: In some, illiteracy is equated with no schooling at all, for example. Writings on the wallGlobally speaking, more men are able to read and write than women, and this disparity is also reflected in the literacy rate in India – with scarcity of schools and education in rural areas being one factor, and poverty another. Especially in rural areas, women and girls are often not given proper access to formal education, and even if they are, many drop out. Today, India is already being surpassed in this area by other emerging economies, like Brazil, China, and even by most other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. To catch up, India now has to offer more educational programs to its rural population, not only on how to read and write, but also on traditional gender roles and rights.

Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data was reported at 83.830 % in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 76.395 % for 2018. Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 76.197 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2020, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 100.000 % in 2014 and a record low of 59.000 % in 1976. Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Cameroon – Table CM.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.;UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed April 5, 2025. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Whole Country data was reported at 93.100 % in 2008. This stayed constant from the previous number of 93.100 % for 2006. Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Whole Country data is updated yearly, averaging 93.050 % from Dec 2002 (Median) to 2008, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 93.100 % in 2008 and a record low of 92.100 % in 2002. Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Whole Country data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Statistics Office. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.H028: Household Living Standard Survey (HSS): Literacy Over Aged 10.

The average for 2021 based on 2 countries was 95.22 percent. The highest value was in Costa Rica: 98.04 percent and the lowest value was in Puerto Rico: 92.4 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

The objective of the Municipal Education Statistics is to know the education level of the population. It is carried out exclusively using administrative information from internal and external sources, without the direct collection of information. Internal statistics sources from the Population and Housing Statistics (EPV) and the Municipal Inhabitants Statistics (EMH) are used as the base. It also uses other external administrative sources, in the educational sphere, of the Administration of the Basque Country and the Central Administration, which provide records of administrative registers relating to level of education and qualifications.

The knowledge and quantification of the population subject of education, level of Basque, activity and mobility of people residing in the Basque Country as well as information on housing, requires various statistical sources. On the one hand, population counts have been carried out decennially through the Population and Housing Censuses, as well as by the Population and Housing Statistics in the intercensal period; on the other hand, through the various municipal statistics (municipal statistics of inhabitants, municipal statistics of housing, municipal statistics of education and municipal statistics of active population). In addition, using as main sources the administrative records of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, the municipal demographic information and the different characteristics are renewed.

Between 2018 and 2022, Seychelles was the country with the highest adult literacy rate in Africa, at around ** percent. São Tomé and Príncipe and Namibia followed with a literacy rate of approximately ** percent and ** percent, respectively. The average rate on the continent stood at roughly ** percent. Moreover, Southern Africa had the highest literacy levels among African regions.

Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Rural data was reported at 92.000 % in 2008. This records a decrease from the previous number of 92.100 % for 2006. Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Rural data is updated yearly, averaging 91.950 % from Dec 2002 (Median) to 2008, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 92.100 % in 2006 and a record low of 90.900 % in 2002. Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Rural data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Statistics Office. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.H028: Household Living Standard Survey (HSS): Literacy Over Aged 10.

Knowledge and quantification of the population and families resident in the Basque Country requires diverse statistical sources. On the one hand, ten-yearly recounts of the population and families are made through the Population and Housing Census, as well as by the Population and Housing Statistics (EPV) in inter-census periods; on the other hand, the municipal demographic information is renewed through the Municipal population update (APM) and using the administrative records of Municipal Register of Inhabitants as the main sources of information.

Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Urban data was reported at 96.100 % in 2008. This records an increase from the previous number of 96.000 % for 2006. Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Urban data is updated yearly, averaging 96.050 % from Dec 2002 (Median) to 2008, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 96.300 % in 2004 and a record low of 96.000 % in 2006. Vietnam HSS: Literacy: Over Aged 10: Urban data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Statistics Office. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.H028: Household Living Standard Survey (HSS): Literacy Over Aged 10.

Illiteracy Rate: 10 Years and Above data was reported at 20.100 % in 2016. This records a decrease from the previous number of 23.700 % for 2015. Illiteracy Rate: 10 Years and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 26.300 % from Jun 1997 (Median) to 2016, with 15 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 39.400 % in 1997 and a record low of 20.100 % in 2016. Illiteracy Rate: 10 Years and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Central Bank of Egypt. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Egypt – Table EG.G021: Education Statistics.

According to a survey conducted in September 2020, ** percent of respondents between ages 10 to 24 were receiving digital literacy education at school. In comparison, less than half of respondents from Myanmar and Laos were learning digital skills at school in 2020.

The statistic shows the degree of adult literacy in China from 1982 to 2020. In 2020, the literacy rate, which is defined as people aged 15 and above who can read and write, had reached about 97.15 percent in China.

Global literacy rates

By 2020, around 86.8 percent of the world population aged 15 years and above had been able to read and write. While in developed regions this figure ranged a lot higher, only around 67 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa was literate. Countries with the lowest literacy rates are also the most underdeveloped worldwide. According to UNESCO, literacy is a human right, especially in a fast-changing and technology-driven world. In China, the literacy rate has developed from 79 percent in 1982 to 97 percent in 2020, indicating that almost one million people per year had become literate over three decades. In India, the situation was entirely different. The second most populous country in the world displayed a literacy rate of merely 76 percent in 2022.

Literacy in China

The dramatic increase in literacy in China has a lot to do with the efficacy of numerous political, economic and educational policies. In 1982, compulsory education was written into the Chinese constitution, postulating a nine-year compulsory education funded by the government. As is shown by the graph above, there was a large gender gap in literacy rate in China as of 1982. Though this gap still existed in 2020, it was narrowed down to three percent, starting from 28 percent in 1982. Since 1990, the national education policy was directed at females, especially from poor and/or minority families. Over the past years, China has achieved gender parity in primary schooling.

However, regional literacy disparities in China should not to be overlooked. Regions with a strong economic background tend to display illiteracy rates below national average. In contrast, economically underdeveloped regions have a much larger share of people who cannot read nor write. Tibet for instance, a region where 92 percent of the population belong to an ethnic minority, showed the highest illiterate rate nationwide, with around 34 percent in 2022.

The knowledge and quantification of the population and families residing in the Basque Country requires various statistical sources. On the one hand, population and family counts have been carried out decennially through the Population and Housing Census, as well as by Population and Housing Statistics (SPV) in the intercensal period; on the other hand, through the Municipal Population Update (APM) and using as main sources the administrative records of the Municipal Register of Inhabitants, municipal demographic information is renewed.

Explore Saudi Arabia's education development indicators , including net attendance rates, literacy rates, teacher salaries, and more. Discover valuable insights and trends in education data for Saudi Arabia and other countries in the region.

UIS, attendance rate, literacy rate, teacher salaries, education indicators, net enrolment rate, drop-out rate, population, schooling

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, China, India

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Note: © 2016 The World Bank Group, All Rights Reserved.Saudi Arabia education indicator related dataset from the world bank. There are over 1300 series in the dataset, we have selected those relevant to education category. Checkout other related dataset Population, Health and Employment in demographic category of our portal.Citation: "World Development Indicators| World Databank". Databank.worldbank.org. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.