Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in Vanuatu was reported at 89.1 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vanuatu - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

Adult literacy rate of Vanuatu jumped by 5.19% from 84.7 % in 2014 to 89.1 % in 2021. Since the 9.81% jump in 1984, adult literacy rate shot up by 53.09% in 2021. 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.

Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, male (%) in Vanuatu was reported at 57.94 % in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vanuatu - Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, male - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) in Vanuatu was reported at 96.6 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vanuatu - Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, both sexes (%) in Vanuatu was reported at 50.89 % in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vanuatu - Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, both sexes - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

Vanuatu: Male literacy rate, ages 15-24: Pour cet indicateur, UNESCO fournit des données pour la Vanuatu de 1979 à 2021. La valeur moyenne pour Vanuatu pendant cette période était de 87.76 pour cent avec un minimum de 76 pour cent en 1979 et un maximum de 96.6 pour cent en 2021.

Abstract

The Education Experience Survey and Literacy Assessment was conducted in Shefa Province, Vanuatu in April, 2011 for Ni-Vanuatu aged from 15 to 60 years. The full report analyses in detail the results of the survey and literacy assessment and highlights correlations between respondents’ educational experience and their literacy levels, employment and income. The survey was aimed at rural Shefa Province so did not cover the capital Port Vila.

The survey and literacy assessment instrument and methodology has been designed to collect accurate and staitsially significant information about education and language experience and also assess acutul literacy levels at the provincial, village and individual level.

The results provide accurate, statistically significant primary data about the education experience of Ni-Vanuatu in Shefa Province.

Geographic coverage

Shefa Province, Vanuatu not including Port Vila. Eight out of the total of 15 islands within the Province mapping were randomly selected.

The villages surveyed were located on islands of Efate, Lelepa, Nguna, Emau, Emae, Buninga, Tongoa, and Laman Island (Epi). The villages in which the survey took place were Mele, Emua, Takara/Sara, Ekipe, Pangpang, Eton, Teoma, Etas, Lelepa,Utanlang, Taloa, Marou, Wiana, Buninga, Tongamea, Sangava, Euta, Matangi/Itakoma, Lumbukiti and Laman.

Analysis unit

Household Individual (Ni-Vanuatu aged from 15 to 60 years).

Universe

The survey covered all people who normally resided in a selected household, between the ages of 15 and 60 years (inclusive).

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The survey was conducted in households in randomly selected rural communities across 8 systematically selected islands out of the 15 islands of Shefa Province. Port Vila was consciously not included, but such a similar exercise in Port Vila would also be very worthwhile. Eight out of the total of 15 islands within the Province mapping were randomly selected. All people who normally resided in a selected household, between the ages of 15 and 60 years (inclusive), were invited to participate in the survey.

The literacy assessment questions were addressed only to respondents who declared an ability to read one of the official languages - English, French or Bislama. With regard to the sampling methodology, great care was taken to ensure that statistically significant results were obtained. The minimum required sample size was calculated using 2009 National Census population figures that indicated the total target population - those people between the ages of 15 to 60 - to be 57,174. The required sample size was 2.36% of the total population, meaning that the number of respondents required was 1,350 people.

This minimum sample size was then used to guide the number of households that needed to be surveyed. It was assumed that a household would typically contain at least three eligible people (15-60 years). As such, it was planned that 20 villages, with 30 households within each village, and an average of three people per household should be interviewed.

Sampling deviation

There was no deviation from sample design.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The survey instrument contains five sections as follows: 1. Individual profile 2. Education experience 3. Language experience 4. Literacy assessment 5. Employment experience

The Individual Profile section of the survey was designed to capture information about the respondents’ gender and age, to allow disaggregation analysis. The first section of the survey also included questions relating to the respondents’ number of children, sources of information used in the previous month, and the respondents’ attitudes to literacy and education.

The second and third parts of the survey were designed to capture information about the respondents’ educational and language experience. The questions in the second part of the survey, explored the education history of the individual, including the highest level of schooling attended and attained, as well as reasons behind non-completion where appropriate.

The third part of the survey questionnaire explored respondents’ language preferences in different situations, and asked respondents to self-declare their literacy status.

The fourth part of the survey is the literacy assessment, which was administered to those participants who self-declared an ability to read one of the three official languages - English, French or Bislama. Therefore, those respondents who indicated in Part 3 that they could read easily, or read some of their preferred official language, participated in the literacy assessment. In contrast, those respondents who indicated that they could not read one of the official languages, did not undertake the literacy assessment and were classified as nonliterate.

The fifth part of the survey looked at the employment experience of respondents. It was designed to extract information about individuals’ participation in the formal economy through cash -paying employment.

Cleaning operations

The survey results were encoded using the Census & Survey Processing System (CSPro) and the data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). For further explanatory notes on the survey analysis, see Appendix C of the External Resource entitled Vanuatu Rural ShefaProvince Education Experience Survey and Literacy Assessment Report

Response rate

100% response rate.

The required sample size was 2.36% of the total population, meaning that the number of respondents required was 1,350 however of the1,350 households selected for the sample, in Shefa Province 1475 interviews were conducted, which is above the minimum sample size of 1,350 people. The survey sample comprised 628 males (42.6%) and 846 females (57.4%). All respondents were between the ages of 15 and 60 years, so as to encompass both the youth and adult demographic.

Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) in Vanuatu was reported at 97.2 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vanuatu - Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Vanuatu: Youth literacy rate, ages 15-24: Pour cet indicateur, UNESCO fournit des données pour la Vanuatu de 1979 à 2021. La valeur moyenne pour Vanuatu pendant cette période était de 86.55 pour cent avec un minimum de 72 pour cent en 1979 et un maximum de 96.9 pour cent en 2021.

Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female (%) in Vanuatu was reported at 43.22 % in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vanuatu - Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

Literacy rate, youth (ages 15-24), gender parity index (GPI) in Vanuatu was reported at 1.0062 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vanuatu - Ratio of young literate females to males (% ages 15-24) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on August of 2025.

The average for 2021 based on 4 countries was 98.25 percent. The highest value was in Tonga: 99.4 percent and the lowest value was in Vanuatu: 96.9 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Abstract

The Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) is an oral student assessment designed to measure the most basic foundation skills for literacy acquisition in the early grades: recognizing letters of the alphabet, reading simple words, understanding sentences and paragraphs, and listening with comprehension.

The USAID Education Data for Decision Making (EdData II) project developed the EGRA methodology and has applied it in 11 countries and 19 languages. It has been adopted and used by other implementing partners in more than 30 other countries and more than 60 other languages. Data from EGRA have been used for feedback on teacher practice in rigorous but easy-to-understand ways. Many countries have shown an interest in using it as a springboard to improve reading, and have gone on to redesign their teacher training around reading.

Geographic coverage

National representative

Analysis unit

student, teacher, clusters of schools

Universe

All primary schools in the country.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Random stratification of schools by district; random selection of students among all classrooms in a grade tested.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

Vanuatu EGRA Student test, student questionnaire, teacher questionnaire, classroom observation snapshot.