In 2020, the adult literacy rate among the population above 15 years of age in Mongolia amounted to approximately 99.2 percent, more than in any other country in the Asia-Pacific region. Comparatively, the adult literacy rate in Afghanistan amounted to approximately 37.3 percent of the population aged 15 years and above in 2021.

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.

Historical chart and dataset showing World literacy rate by year from 1976 to 2023.

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.

Global Adult Literacy Rate by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Adult Literacy Rate for Male, Female, and Total Population by country for most recent year available. Year of data collection for each country is listed when known. Adult literacy rates are defined as the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life. Data Sources: United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics, via World Bank DataBank; CIA World Factbook; Country shapes from Natural Earth 50M scale data.

The average for 2021 based on 58 countries was 94.32 percent. The highest value was in Romania: 100 percent and the lowest value was in Burkina Faso: 66.65 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

In 2020, China had a youth literacy rate of about **** percent. In contrast, Afghanistan's youth literacy rate stood at **** percent in 2021.Indicators for the literacy rateAn indicator which can be seen to affect the literacy rate is the governmental effort in investing in education. The amount of funds invested into the education sector is a factor which can determine a country’s state of education, as the amount of money being spent on education would have an impact on resources, learning environment, and teaching quality. Singapore’s student-teacher ratio in primary education is significantly lower than that of South Asian countries. For instance, Nepal had 20.3 students for every teacher in 2019. Meanwhile, Singaporean teachers only had around **** students on average as of 2020. Notably, South Asia, together with sub-Saharan Africa, had a much higher illiteracy rate compared to the East Asian and Pacific region in 2022. The importance of literacyThe literacy rate indicates the percentage of people within a population who can read and write. This enables them to identify, understand and interpret materials with various contexts. Ensuring literacy for all pupils is a part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for quality education. This in turn stimulates economic and societal growth for the future.

In 2020, the highest percentage of female literacy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region was in Jordan at about 97.8 percent of the females. Within the region, Syria, Libya and Iraq have been suffering from conflict and humanitarian crises.

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Lower Middle Income Countries (SEADTLITRZSLMC) from 1975 to 2023 about literacy, adult, income, and rate.

Global Literacy Rate Among Female Youth by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Historical chart and dataset showing Georgia literacy rate by year from 2002 to 2022.

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.

This dataset provides values for LITERACY RATE ADULT TOTAL PERCENT OF PEOPLE AGES 15 AND ABOVE WB DATA.HTML reported in several countries. The data includes current values, previous releases, historical highs and record lows, release frequency, reported unit and currency.

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.

Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Low and Middle Income Countries was 85.17915 % of People Ages 15 and Above in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Low and Middle Income Countries reached a record high of 85.17915 in January of 2023 and a record low of 59.01323 in January of 1975. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Low and Middle Income Countries - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on June of 2025.

Global Youth Literacy Rate by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

Ghana literacy rate for 2020 was 80.38%, a 15.89% increase from 2017.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Ghana literacy rate for 2017 was <strong>64.49%</strong>, a <strong>6.51% decline</strong> from 2010.</li>
<li>Ghana literacy rate for 2010 was <strong>71.00%</strong>, a <strong>13% increase</strong> from 2000.</li>
<li>Ghana literacy rate for 2000 was <strong>58.00%</strong>, a <strong>58% increase</strong> from .</li>
</ul>Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Developing Countries in Latin America and Caribbean (SEADTLITRZSLAC) from 1974 to 2023 about Caribbean Economies, Latin America, literacy, adult, and rate.

Mali literacy rate for 2020 was 31.00%, a 4% decline from 2018.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>Mali literacy rate for 2018 was <strong>35.00%</strong>, a <strong>2% increase</strong> from 2015.</li>
<li>Mali literacy rate for 2015 was <strong>33.00%</strong>, a <strong>2% increase</strong> from 2011.</li>
<li>Mali literacy rate for 2011 was <strong>31.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from 2010.</li>
</ul>Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.