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.

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 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.

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.

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.

United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for the Arab World was 73.36777 % of People Ages 15 and Above in January of 2020, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for the Arab World reached a record high of 75.76682 in January of 2017 and a record low of 44.90297 in January of 1977. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Literacy Rate, Adult Total for the Arab World - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on March of 2025.

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 average for 2021 based on 12 countries was 98.27 percent. The highest value was in Costa Rica: 99.53 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.

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.

The average for 2021 based on 12 countries was 98.12 percent. The highest value was in Bolivia: 99.5 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.

The statistic shows the degree of adult literacy in China from 1982 to 2020. In 2020, the literacy rate, which is defined as people aged 15 and above who can read and write, had reached about 97.15 percent in China.

Global literacy rates

By 2020, around 86.8 percent of the world population aged 15 years and above had been able to read and write. While in developed regions this figure ranged a lot higher, only around 67 percent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa was literate. Countries with the lowest literacy rates are also the most underdeveloped worldwide. According to UNESCO, literacy is a human right, especially in a fast-changing and technology-driven world. In China, the literacy rate has developed from 79 percent in 1982 to 97 percent in 2020, indicating that almost one million people per year had become literate over three decades. In India, the situation was entirely different. The second most populous country in the world displayed a literacy rate of merely 76 percent in 2022.

Literacy in China

The dramatic increase in literacy in China has a lot to do with the efficacy of numerous political, economic and educational policies. In 1982, compulsory education was written into the Chinese constitution, postulating a nine-year compulsory education funded by the government. As is shown by the graph above, there was a large gender gap in literacy rate in China as of 1982. Though this gap still existed in 2020, it was narrowed down to three percent, starting from 28 percent in 1982. Since 1990, the national education policy was directed at females, especially from poor and/or minority families. Over the past years, China has achieved gender parity in primary schooling.

However, regional literacy disparities in China should not to be overlooked. Regions with a strong economic background tend to display illiteracy rates below national average. In contrast, economically underdeveloped regions have a much larger share of people who cannot read nor write. Tibet for instance, a region where 92 percent of the population belong to an ethnic minority, showed the highest illiterate rate nationwide, with around 34 percent in 2022.

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Developing Countries in Latin America and Caribbean (SEADTLITRZSLAC) from 1974 to 2023 about Caribbean Economies, Latin America, literacy, adult, and rate.

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.

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.

As of January 2024, South America presented a mobile connectivity rate of 112 percent, as mobile internet users in the region had multiple mobile subscriptions. Meanwhile, Central America and Mexico had a mobile internet penetration rate of 103 percent, while the Caribbean had around 84 percent. Among Caribbean countries and territories, Aruba featured the highest overall internet penetration rate at that time, as over 97.2 percent of its inhabitants were online.

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.

Argentina scored 562 out of a maximum of 800 points in the English Proficiency Index 2023. That was the highest score among all Latin American countries included in the survey. The Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, also received the highest English proficiency score among all the Latin American cities analyzed. Mexico and Haiti received the lowest scores in the region.

Based on their overall scores according to the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings 2025, most of the leading Latin American universities are located in Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, and Chile. The Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) ranked first with a score of 67.6 out of 100, while the Universidad Autónoma de México (UNAM) ranked fourth, with 61.4 points.

This statistic shows the illiteracy rate in China in 2023, by region. Illiterate population refers to the proportion of the population aged 15 and older who are unable to read or have difficulty in reading. In 2023, the illiteracy rate in the Chinese Yunnan province had amounted to 6.14 percent. Illiteracy in China Literacy poses the basis for all other forms of education. Literacy skills are essential for the promotion of sustainable development, both in terms of economic progress and social advance. People with good literacy skills enjoy a better living standard and have better chances in the job market. In comparison with other countries in the Asia Pacific region, literacy in China is relatively high. China’s literacy rate has increased from 66 percent in 1982 to 97.2 percent in 2020. A distinctive gap between gender literacy existed as early as 1982, but gender differences in literacy had become less significant by 2020. This change had been facilitated by education reforms in China, namely mandatory free primary school education has helped to virtually eradicate illiteracy in China. As of 2017, 100 percent of primary-school-age children in China had been enrolled in school, making it one of the countries with the highest primary school enrollment rates worldwide. Regional disparities in literacy However, regional disparities in literacy rate still persist in China. Literacy in regions with a strong economic background tends to be higher than in underdeveloped regions. The literacy rate in Tibet had been at a staggering 29 percent compared with a national average of 3.4 percent in China.