Editor’s Choice

• The Healthcare IT market size is expected to be worth around USD 1728 Bn by 2032
• According to a report by UNESCO, countries in South and South-West Asia have the highest number of illiterate adults in the world, estimated at 388 million.
• Approximately 36% of adult Americans possess only basic or below basic health literacy skills.
• Only 12% of Americans are considered proficient in their health literacy skills.
• Health literacy levels in China increased from 6.48% of the population in 2008 to 23.15% in 2020.
• A recent study analyzing global health literacy research from 1995 to 2020 identified the United States, Australia, and the United Kingdom as major contributors to the international collaboration network on health literacy.
• Mental health has been the most active research field in recent years in the context of health literacy.

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.

United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Other Small States was 86.25975 % 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 Other Small States reached a record high of 86.25975 in January of 2023 and a record low of 71.82288 in January of 1983. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Other Small States - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on May of 2025.

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.

A survey conducted in the United States in August 2023 found that digital literacy among U.S. adults varied depending on the age group. Younger generations, aged 18 to 29, showed a much higher awareness of digital topics, such as online privacy, and an understanding of generative AI. However, there was a notable gap between them and individuals 65 and older. For example, only 26 percent of respondents older than 65 years could identify an example of two-factor authentication, compared to 68 percent of younger respondents.

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 USA: Literacy rate: The latest value from is percent, unavailable from percent in . In comparison, the world average is 0.00 percent, based on data from countries. Historically, the average for the USA from to is percent. The minimum value, percent, was reached in while the maximum of percent was recorded in .

North America literacy rate for 2022 was 98.78%, a 0% increase from 2021.

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

<li>North America literacy rate for 2021 was <strong>98.78%</strong>, a <strong>0.01% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>North America literacy rate for 2020 was <strong>98.77%</strong>, a <strong>0.01% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
<li>North America literacy rate for 2019 was <strong>98.77%</strong>, a <strong>0.01% increase</strong> from 2018.</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.

In 2023, the average adult literacy rates (15 years and older) in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 94.79 percent. Literacy rates in Latin America and the Caribbean have been slightly improving in all three age groups since 2014.

National Assessment of Adult Literacy, 2003 (NAAL:2003), is a study that is part of the National Assessment of Adult Literacy program. NAAL:2003 (https://nces.ed.gov/naal/) is a cross-sectional assessment that collected information about English literacy among American adults age 16 and older. The study was conducted using direct assessment from 19,000 adults 16 or older, in their homes and some in prisons from the 50 states and District of Columbia. Households and prison inmates were sampled in 2003. The weighted response rate was 62.1 percent for households and 88.3 percent for prison inmates. Key statistics produced from NAAL:2003 include reading skills, general literacy, relationships, demographics, and background characteristics.

Latin America & Caribbean literacy rate for 2023 was 94.79%, a 0.14% increase from 2022.

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

<li>Latin America & Caribbean literacy rate for 2022 was <strong>94.65%</strong>, a <strong>0.15% increase</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>Latin America & Caribbean literacy rate for 2021 was <strong>94.49%</strong>, a <strong>0.18% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>Latin America & Caribbean literacy rate for 2020 was <strong>94.31%</strong>, a <strong>0.06% increase</strong> from 2019.</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.

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 in the world 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 the 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 12 countries was 98.43 percent. The highest value was in Costa Rica: 99.61 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.

U.S. literacy rate for was 0.00%, a 0% increase from .

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

<li>U.S. literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from .</li>
<li>U.S. literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from .</li>
<li>U.S. literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% 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.

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of American Financial Literacy Association

In 2023, the share of women aged 15 or older who could read and write in Latin America and the Caribbean amounted to 94.79 percent, around 0.33 percentage point lower than the literacy rate among adult men. This region's adult literacy rate averaged at 94.8 percent in 2023.

Virgin Islands (U.S.) literacy rate for was 0.00%, a 0% increase from .

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

<li>Virgin Islands (U.S.) literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from .</li>
<li>Virgin Islands (U.S.) literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from .</li>
<li>Virgin Islands (U.S.) literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% 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.

This statistic depicts the percentage of prekindergarten children, ages 3 to 5 years, who were read to frequently by a family member in the U.S. in 2012, distinguished by race and Hispanic origin. In 2012, the percentage of non-Hispanic White children who were read to 3 or more times per week by a family member stood at 91 percent.

The USA: Male literacy rate, ages 15-24: The latest value from is percent, unavailable from percent in . In comparison, the world average is 0.00 percent, based on data from countries. Historically, the average for the USA from to is percent. The minimum value, percent, was reached in while the maximum of percent was recorded in .

American Samoa literacy rate for 1980 was 97.00%, a 97% increase from .

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

<li>American Samoa literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from .</li>
<li>American Samoa literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% increase</strong> from .</li>
<li>American Samoa literacy rate for was <strong>0.00%</strong>, a <strong>0% 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.