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.

Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. To collect socio-economic data in order to investigate theories concerning the causes of coups. Main Topics: Variables Country, % population living in rural areas/working in agriculture 1970, % growth rate of GNP per capita (U.S. dollars) 1970, number of people for each physician 1970, % population illiterate 1970, number of radio sets/newspaper circulation per 1000 inhabitants 1970, density of population 1970, GNP per capita (U.S. dollars), % military personnel per 1000 population 1970, whether has own army, annual defence budget as % of GNP per capita 1970, extent of bilateral aid per capita (U.S. dollars), whether had coup d'etat 1950-1970, whether has been a colony for any period 1950-1970, whether has had coup previously, largest % population having same religion, whether had coup between 1960-1970, % population living in urban areas 1965, newspaper circulation per 1000 population 1965, number of people per physician 1965, % population having received education 1965, number of radio sets per 1000 population 1965, SNP per capita 1965 (U.S. dollars), whether had coup 1950-Jan 1971/1950-1966/1961-1966, number of riots since 1948-1967, number of major 'irregular power transfers' 1950-1968 (Taylor and Hudson), whether has military agreements with France 1950-1970, whether has had internal physical conflict on grounds of ethnic or language differences, whether receives aid, whether defends itself, whether became independent since 1 Jan 1966, number of major 'irregular power transfers' where a coup has taken place, major commodity exported as % of value of all exports 1968, whether product has one year gestation period, amount of external trade in relation to rest of world 1968 (U.S. dollars), major % exports to one country 1968, whether has trade with communist countries, whether ex-British/ex-French colony, whether has had monarch/emperor/sultan (not constitutional), whether has fought external war/civil war 1950-1970, whether has military agreements with U.S./U.K./U.S.S.R./ France, four major commodities exported as % of all exports, whether imports and exports major % of commodities from U.S.S.R./France/U.K./U.S.A. 1968.