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.

There is a gender gap in the literacy rate among the youth worldwide. Although the literacy rates have increased worldwide for both young men and women between 15 and 24 years, men are on average more literate than women. As of 2023, nearly 94 percent of young men and roughly 91.7 percent of women in the world were literate. A similar picture was seen for the adult population worldwide.

The ranking shows the percentage of literate population in each country among citizens over the age of 15. A person is considered literate if they have mastered written language, meaning they can read and write.

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in World was reported at 87.36 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for the World (SEADTLITRZSWLD) from 1976 to 2023 about literacy, adult, World, and rate.

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

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.

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;

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

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 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.

View yearly updates and historical trends for World Adult Literacy Rate. Source: World Bank. Track economic data with YCharts analytics.

Burundi BI: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data was reported at 93.560 % in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 88.000 % for 2017. Burundi BI: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 74.460 % from Dec 1979 (Median) to 2022, with 9 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 93.560 % in 2022 and a record low of 31.000 % in 1979. Burundi BI: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Burundi – Table BI.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 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 April 5, 2025. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

Adult literacy rate of Rwanda declined by 1.31% from 80.1 % in 2020 to 79.0 % in 2022. Since the 2.82% growth in 2018, adult literacy rate surged by 8.22% in 2022. Adult (15+) literacy rate (%). Total is the percentage of the population age 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of literates aged 15 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.

Context

The literacy rate is defined by the percentage of the population of a given age group that can read and write. The adult literacy rate corresponds to ages 15 and above, the youth literacy rate to ages 15 to 24. It is typically measured according to the ability to comprehend a short simple statement on everyday life.

Content

The dataset contains information about the literacy rates across the globe for various countries. It is grouped into 3 major categories, Total %, Male% and Female %. The dataset has 2 csv files. 1) Adults_15YrsAndUp.csv - Contains literacy rate information for Adults

2) Youth_15to24Yrs.csv - Contains literacy rate information for Youth

Acknowledgements

The dataset is sourced from Unicef.

Inspiration

Exploratory Data Analysis to find greater insights into the data.

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

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

Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) in World was reported at 93.93 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. World - Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on October of 2025.

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