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.

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.

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

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.

The "World Literacy Rate by Country" dataset provides a detailed snapshot of literacy rates across different countries in the world. This dataset is organized into several key columns:

S.No: This column lists the serial number for each country, helping to keep the data organized and easy to reference. Country: This column names the countries included in the dataset, allowing for a clear understanding of which nation each literacy rate pertains to. Literacy rate in percentage: This column shows the literacy rate of each country, expressed as a percentage. This figure represents the proportion of the population that can read and write. Year: This column indicates the year in which the literacy rate was recorded, providing a temporal context for the data. By examining this dataset, you can gain insights into the educational progress and challenges faced by different countries in the world.

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.

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 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.

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

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

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.

Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 78.230 % in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 77.071 % for 2018. Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 70.985 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2020, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 78.230 % in 2020 and a record low of 41.216 % in 1976. Cameroon CM: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above 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. 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.;UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). UIS.Stat Bulk Data Download Service. Accessed October 24, 2022. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

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.

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.

Kenya literacy rate for 2022 was 82.88%, a 4.15% increase from 2014.

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

<li>Kenya literacy rate for 2014 was <strong>78.73%</strong>, a <strong>6.58% increase</strong> from 2007.</li>
<li>Kenya literacy rate for 2007 was <strong>72.16%</strong>, a <strong>9.84% decline</strong> from 2000.</li>
<li>Kenya literacy rate for 2000 was <strong>82.00%</strong>, a <strong>82% 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.

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

Historical chart and dataset showing Mali literacy rate by year from 1976 to 2020.

Global Literacy Rate Among Male 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 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.