In 2020, the adult literacy rate among the population above 15 years of age in Mongolia amounted to approximately **** percent, more than in any other country in the Asia-Pacific region. Comparatively, the adult literacy rate in Afghanistan amounted to approximately ** percent of the population aged 15 years and above in 2021.

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

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Least Developed Countries (SEADTLITRZSLDC) from 1981 to 2024 about literacy, adult, and rate.

The literacy rate among females in Cabo Verde reached 82 percent. Cabo Verde represented the West African country in which the literacy rate among women aged 15 years and over was the highest. On the contrary, the literacy rate in Chad equaled to 14 percent of female adults, the lowest figure in West Africa.

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

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Lower Middle Income Countries (SEADTLITRZSLMC) from 1975 to 2024 about literacy, adult, income, and rate.

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.

The rate of adult literacy as share of the country's population 15 years and above in Brazil was 94.69 percent in 2022. Between 1980 and 2022, the rate of adult literacy rose by 19.69 percentage points, though the increase followed an uneven trajectory rather than a consistent upward trend.

Cross sectional data, all countries for the statistic Literacy_Rate_Adult_Total. Indicator Definition: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.Indicator Unit:The statistic is measured in Percent.Descriptive Statistics regarding the Indicator "Literacy Rate Adult Total":The number of countries with data stands at: 51 countries.The average value across those countries stands at: 80.44.The standard deviation across those countries stands at: 18.68.The lowest value stands at: 27.28, and was observed in Chad, which in this case constitutes the country that ranks last.The highest value stands at: 100.00, and was observed in Georgia, which in this case constitutes the country that ranks first.Looking at countries with values, the top 5 countries are:1. Georgia, actual value 100.00, actual ranking 1.2. San Marino, actual value 100.00, actual ranking 1.3. Uzbekistan, actual value 100.00, actual ranking 1.4. Uruguay, actual value 99.00, actual ranking 4.5. Albania, actual value 98.50, actual ranking 5.Looking at countries with values, the bottom 5 countries are:1. Chad, actual value 27.28, actual ranking 51.2. Burkina Faso, actual value 34.49, actual ranking 50.3. Niger, actual value 38.10, actual ranking 49.4. Benin, actual value 47.10, actual ranking 48.5. Sierra Leone, actual value 48.64, actual ranking 47.

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.

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

In 2018, the literacy rate of people aged 15 years and older in Algeria corresponded to approximately 81 percent of the total adult population. Literacy levels in the country gradually increased in the period under review, growing from approximately 70 percent in 2002. Moreover, men in Algeria had a higher literacy rate compared to women.

Vietnam VN: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 93.520 % in 2009. This records an increase from the previous number of 90.156 % for 2000. Vietnam VN: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 90.156 % from Dec 1979 (Median) to 2009, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 93.520 % in 2009 and a record low of 83.826 % in 1979. Vietnam VN: 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 Vietnam – Table VN.World Bank.WDI: 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; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

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 2024, about 90.91 percent of men and a little less than 88.8 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.

Latvia LV: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 99.896 % in 2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 99.747 % for 2000. Latvia LV: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 99.747 % from Dec 1989 (Median) to 2011, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 99.896 % in 2011 and a record low of 99.452 % in 1989. Latvia LV: 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 Latvia – Table LV.World Bank.WDI: 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; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Graph and download economic data for Literacy Rate, Adult Total for Countries with Fragile and Conflict Affected Situations (SEADTLITRZSFCS) from 1986 to 2024 about literacy, adult, and rate.

In 2018, the adult literacy rate in Morocco was around ** percent among men and ** percent among women. In the years under review, literacy levels in the country gradually increased and the gender gap narrowed. In comparison, only ** percent of the women in Morocco were literate in 1982, compared to ** percent of the male population.

Literacy: youth and adult literacy rates, including country breakdown

Definition:
Percentage of population aged 15 years and over who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on his/her everyday life.

The average for 2021 based on 11 countries was 98.77 percent. The highest value was in Latvia: 99.89 percent and the lowest value was in Malta: 94.94 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.