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.

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 .

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 July of 2025.

The average for 2021 based on 58 countries was 92.58 percent. The highest value was in Romania: 100 percent and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 42 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in Saudi Arabia was reported at 98 % in 2020, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Saudi Arabia - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) in Sierra Leone was reported at 71.65 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Sierra Leone - 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.

Historical chart and dataset showing Uganda literacy rate by year from 1991 to 2022.

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in Singapore was reported at 98 % in 2021, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Singapore - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Historical chart and dataset showing Turkey literacy rate by year from 1975 to 2019.

Historical chart and dataset showing Egypt literacy rate by year from 1976 to 2022.

Germany: 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 Germany from to is percent. The minimum value, percent, was reached in while the maximum of percent was recorded in .

Literacy in India has been increasing as more and more people receive a better education, but it is still far from all-encompassing. In 2022, the degree of literacy in India was about 76.32 percent, with the majority of literate Indians being men. It is estimated that the global literacy rate for people aged 15 and above is about 86 percent. How to read a literacy rateIn order to identify potential for intellectual and educational progress, the literacy rate of a country covers the level of education and skills acquired by a country’s inhabitants. Literacy is an important indicator of a country’s economic progress and the standard of living – it shows how many people have access to education. However, the standards to measure literacy cannot be universally applied. Measures to identify and define illiterate and literate inhabitants vary from country to country: In some, illiteracy is equated with no schooling at all, for example. Writings on the wallGlobally speaking, more men are able to read and write than women, and this disparity is also reflected in the literacy rate in India – with scarcity of schools and education in rural areas being one factor, and poverty another. Especially in rural areas, women and girls are often not given proper access to formal education, and even if they are, many drop out. Today, India is already being surpassed in this area by other emerging economies, like Brazil, China, and even by most other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. To catch up, India now has to offer more educational programs to its rural population, not only on how to read and write, but also on traditional gender roles and rights.

The repercussions of climate change in Africa profound. The effects are recorded notably on agricultural and water systems across the continent. This data brief presents historical data and the first of its kind maps of readiness of Africa to climate change adaptation. The data are technically validated through a newly developed readiness Index (ClimAdaptCap Index). The Data and maps show that readiness for climate change adaptation is driven by the intensity of climate forcing and adaptive capacity. The climate data includes precipitation and temperature for the period 1991-2016. The latter were culled from the World Bank Climate Portal. The adaptive capacity data included proxies such as poverty and literacy rates for the same historical period. These were collected from the World Bank and Macrotrends. These climate data were normalized using the normalization function to enhance interpretation, comparison/fusion into the Index. Missing poverty and literacy rate data were estimated by linear interpolation of the poverty and literacy rate data. The readiness maps and data show that North and Southern Africa are the readiest for climate change while West Africa is the least ready and Middle and East Africa are in the middle. The data shows further that, readiness has a positive correlation with literacy rates and an inverse correlation with poverty rates. The data, maps and index can be adapted in different contexts principally around Africa.

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in Sudan was reported at 60.7 % in 2018, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Sudan - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in Madagascar was reported at 77.48 % in 2022, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Madagascar - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Historical chart and dataset showing Ethiopia literacy rate by year from 1994 to 2017.

Romania: Literacy rate: The latest value from 2021 is 99 percent, unchanged from 99 percent in 2011. In comparison, the world average is 86.53 percent, based on data from 48 countries. Historically, the average for Romania from 1992 to 2021 is 98 percent. The minimum value, 97 percent, was reached in 1992 while the maximum of 99 percent was recorded in 2011.

Historical chart and dataset showing Nepal literacy rate by year from 1981 to 2021.

Jordan: Literacy rate: The latest value from 2023 is 95 percent, a decline from 95.43 percent in 2018. In comparison, the world average is 92.00 percent, based on data from 5 countries. Historically, the average for Jordan from 1979 to 2023 is 90.83 percent. The minimum value, 67 percent, was reached in 1979 while the maximum of 98 percent was recorded in 2012.