In 2023, the illiteracy rate among adults aged 15 years and older was almost 32 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa. In South Asia, the illiteracy rate was 25 percent. Adult illiteracy rate is defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 and older who can not read or write. Even though illiteracy continues to persist around the world, illiteracy levels have been reduced significantly over the past decades.

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.

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

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!

The average for 2021 based on 3 countries was 94.81 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.

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Least Developed Countries (SEADTLITRZSLDC) from 1981 to 2023 about literacy, adult, and rate.

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.

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

Historical chart and dataset showing Ghana literacy rate by year from 2000 to 2020.

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Upper Middle Income Countries (SEADTLITRZSUMC) from 1976 to 2023 about literacy, adult, income, and rate.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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.

Turkey Youth Literacy Rate jumped by 0.2points in 2019, compared to a year earlier.

India literacy rate for 2022 was 76.32%, a 7.02% increase from 2011.

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

<li>India literacy rate for 2011 was <strong>69.30%</strong>, a <strong>6.55% increase</strong> from 2006.</li>
<li>India literacy rate for 2006 was <strong>62.75%</strong>, a <strong>1.74% increase</strong> from 2001.</li>
<li>India literacy rate for 2001 was <strong>61.01%</strong>, a <strong>12.79% increase</strong> from 1991.</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.

United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Least Developed Countries was 67.71457 % of People Ages 15 and Above in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Least Developed Countries reached a record high of 67.71457 in January of 2023 and a record low of 40.17880 in January of 1981. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Least Developed Countries - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.