In 2020, the rate of adult literacy as share of the country's population 15 years and above in Bolivia increased by two percentage points (+2.17 percent) compared to 2015. Therefore, the rate of adult literacy in Bolivia reached a peak in 2020 with 94 percent. The adult literacy rate refers to the share of individuals aged 15 years and older who can read and write as well as understand simple expressions about their daily lives.

Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data was reported at 99.500 % in 2021. This records a decrease from the previous number of 99.580 % for 2020. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 99.470 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2021, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 99.750 % in 2007 and a record low of 91.000 % in 1976. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bolivia – Table BO.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;

The youth literacy rate (people aged 15-24) in Bolivia saw no significant changes in 2021 in comparison to the previous year 2020 and remained at around 99.52 percent. In comparison to 2020, the youth literacy rate decreased not significantly by 0.04 percentage points (-0.04 percent). Nevertheless, the youth literacy rate has been subject to fluctuation over the observed period.The youth literacy rate refers to the share of individuals between the ages of 15 and 24 and who can read and write as well as understand simple expressions about their daily lives.

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

Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult Female: % of Females Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 91.000 % in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 89.000 % for 2015. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult Female: % of Females Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 87.000 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2020, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 92.000 % in 2012 and a record low of 51.000 % in 1976. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult Female: % of Females Aged 15 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bolivia – Table BO.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 April 5, 2025. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) in Bolivia was reported at 99.54 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bolivia - Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 93.853 % in 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 92.455 % for 2015. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 90.956 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2020, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 94.461 % in 2012 and a record low of 63.208 % in 1976. Bolivia BO: 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 Bolivia – Table BO.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 September 19, 2023. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

The literacy rate of people ages 15 years and over in Bolivia was estimated at approximately 94 percent in 2020. Between 1976 and 2020, the rate rose by around 31 percentage points, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend.

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in Bolivia was reported at 94 % in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bolivia - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 97.000 % in 2020. This stayed constant from the previous number of 97.000 % for 2015. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 96.000 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2020, with 10 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 97.000 % in 2020 and a record low of 76.000 % in 1976. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bolivia – Table BO.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 April 5, 2025. https://apiportal.uis.unesco.org/bdds.;Weighted average;

Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) in Bolivia was reported at 97 % in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bolivia - Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Bolivia BO: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data was reported at 1.000 Ratio in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 0.999 Ratio for 2020. Bolivia BO: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 0.996 Ratio from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2021, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.000 Ratio in 2021 and a record low of 0.972 Ratio in 2003. Bolivia BO: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bolivia – Table BO.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Gender parity index for youth literacy rate is the ratio of females to males 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;

Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data was reported at 99.540 % in 2021. This records an increase from the previous number of 99.530 % for 2020. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 99.080 % from Dec 1976 (Median) to 2021, with 23 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 99.540 % in 2021 and a record low of 76.000 % in 1976. Bolivia BO: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bolivia – Table BO.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;

Literacy rate, youth (ages 15-24), gender parity index (GPI) in Bolivia was reported at 1.0004 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Bolivia - Ratio of young literate females to males (% ages 15-24) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

BO: School Enrollment: Primary: % Net data was reported at 92.851 % in 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 90.878 % for 2017. BO: School Enrollment: Primary: % Net data is updated yearly, averaging 94.086 % from Dec 1998 (Median) to 2018, with 21 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 95.229 % in 2003 and a record low of 86.317 % in 2013. BO: School Enrollment: Primary: % Net data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bolivia – Table BO.World Bank.WDI: Social: Education Statistics. Net enrollment rate is the ratio of children of official school age who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding official school age. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music.;UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/). Data as of February 2020.;Weighted average;

28.42 (%) in 2001.

This polygon shapefile contains statistics on literacy from the 2012 Census of Bolivia. The census information was conducted on November 21, 2012 by Direccion Nacional de Estadistica y Censos (Bolivia). The questionnaire and survey report for this census are included with this download.

Abstract

The STEP (Skills Toward Employment and Productivity) Measurement program is the first ever initiative to generate internationally comparable data on skills available in developing countries. The program implements standardized surveys to gather information on the supply and distribution of skills and the demand for skills in labor market of low-income countries.

The uniquely-designed Household Survey includes modules that measure the cognitive skills (reading, writing and numeracy), socio-emotional skills (personality, behavior and preferences) and job-specific skills (subset of transversal skills with direct job relevance) of a representative sample of adults aged 15 to 64 living in urban areas, whether they work or not. The cognitive skills module also incorporates a direct assessment of reading literacy based on the Survey of Adults Skills instruments. Modules also gather information about family, health and language.

Geographic coverage

The cities that are covered are La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz de la Sierra.

Analysis unit

The units of analysis are the individual respondents and households. A household roster is undertaken at the start of the survey and the individual respondent is randomly selected among all household members 15 to 64 years old. The random selection process was designed by the STEP team and compliance with the procedure is carefully monitored during fieldwork.

Universe

The STEP target population is the population 15-64 years old, living in urban areas, as defined by each country's statistical office. The following are excluded from the sample: - Residents of institutions (prisons, hospitals, etc.) - Residents of senior homes and hospices - Residents of other group dwellings such as college dormitories, halfway homes, workers' quarters, etc. - Persons living outside the country at the time of data collection

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Stratified 3-stage sample design was implemented in Bolivia. The stratification variable is city-wealth category. There are 20 strata created by grouping the primary sample units (PSUs) into the 4 cities, i.e.,1- La Paz, 2-El Alto, 3-Cochabamba, 4-Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and 5 wealth categories, i.e., 1-Poorest, 2-Moderately Poor, 3-Middle Wealth, 4-Moderately Rich, 5-Rich.

The source of the sample frame of the first stage units is the 2001 National Census of Population and Housing carried out by the National Institute of Statistics. The primary sample unit (PSU) is a Census Sector. A sample of 218 PSUs was selected from the 10,304 PSUs on the sample frame. This sample of PSUs was comprised of 160 'initial' PSUs and 58 'reserve' PSUs. Of the 218 sampled PSUs, there were 169 activated PSUs consisting of 155 Initial Sampled PSUs and 14 Reserve sampled PSUs. Among the 160 'initial' PSUs, 5 PSUs were replaced due to security concerns; also, 14 reserve PSUs were activated to supplement the sample for initial PSUs where the target sample of 15 interviews was not achieved due to high levels of non-response; thus, only 169 PSUs were actually activated during data collection. The PSUs were grouped according to city-wealth strata, and within each city-wealth stratum PSUs were selected with probability proportional to size (PPS), where the measure of size was the number of households in a PSU.

The second stage sample unit (SSU) is a household. The sampling objective was to obtain interviews at 15 households within each of the initial PSU sample, resulting in a final initial sample of 2,400 interviews. At the second stage of sample selection, 45 households were selected in each PSU using a systematic random method. The 45 households were randomly divided into 15 'Initial' households, and 30 'Reserve' households that were ranked according to the random sample selection order. Note: Due to higher than expected levels of non-response in some PSUs, additional households were sampled; thus, the final actual sample in some PSUs exceeded 45 households.

The third stage sample unit was an individual 15-64 years old (inclusive). The sampling objective was to select one individual with equal probability from each selected household.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The STEP survey instruments include:

• The background questionnaire developed by the World Bank (WB) STEP team
• Reading Literacy Assessment developed by Educational Testing Services (ETS).

All countries adapted and translated both instruments following the STEP technical standards: two independent translators adapted and translated the STEP background questionnaire and Reading Literacy Assessment, while reconciliation was carried out by a third translator.

The survey instruments were piloted as part of the survey pre-test.

The background questionnaire covers such topics as respondents' demographic characteristics, dwelling characteristics, education and training, health, employment, job skill requirements, personality, behavior and preferences, language and family background.

The background questionnaire, the structure of the Reading Literacy Assessment and Reading Literacy Data Codebook are provided in the document "Bolivia STEP Skills Measurement Survey Instruments", available in external resources.

Cleaning operations

STEP data management process:

1) Raw data is sent by the survey firm 2) The World Bank (WB) STEP team runs data checks on the background questionnaire data. Educational Testing Services (ETS) runs data checks on the Reading Literacy Assessment data. Comments and questions are sent back to the survey firm. 3) The survey firm reviews comments and questions. When a data entry error is identified, the survey firm corrects the data. 4) The WB STEP team and ETS check if the data files are clean. This might require additional iterations with the survey firm. 5) Once the data has been checked and cleaned, the WB STEP team computes the weights. Weights are computed by the STEP team to ensure consistency across sampling methodologies. 6) ETS scales the Reading Literacy Assessment data. 7) The WB STEP team merges the background questionnaire data with the Reading Literacy Assessment data and computes derived variables.

Detailed information on data processing in STEP surveys is provided in "STEP Guidelines for Data Processing" document, available in external resources. The template do-file used by the STEP team to check raw background questionnaire data is provided as an external resource, too.

Response rate

An overall response rate of 43% was achieved in the Bolivia STEP Survey. All non-response cases were documented (refusal/not found/no eligible household member, etc.) and accounted for during the weighting process. In such cases, a reserve household was activated to replace the initial household. Procedures are described in "Operation Manual" that is provided as an external resource.

Sampling error estimates

A weighting documentation was prepared for each participating country and provides some information on sampling errors. All country weighting documentations are provided as an external resource.

8,88 (%) in 2001.

8,88 (%) in 2001.