In 2020, China had a youth literacy rate of about **** percent. In contrast, Afghanistan's youth literacy rate stood at **** percent in 2021.Indicators for the literacy rateAn indicator which can be seen to affect the literacy rate is the governmental effort in investing in education. The amount of funds invested into the education sector is a factor which can determine a country’s state of education, as the amount of money being spent on education would have an impact on resources, learning environment, and teaching quality. Singapore’s student-teacher ratio in primary education is significantly lower than that of South Asian countries. For instance, Nepal had 20.3 students for every teacher in 2019. Meanwhile, Singaporean teachers only had around **** students on average as of 2020. Notably, South Asia, together with sub-Saharan Africa, had a much higher illiteracy rate compared to the East Asian and Pacific region in 2022. The importance of literacyThe literacy rate indicates the percentage of people within a population who can read and write. This enables them to identify, understand and interpret materials with various contexts. Ensuring literacy for all pupils is a part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) for quality education. This in turn stimulates economic and societal growth for the future.

Turkey Youth Literacy Rate jumped by 0.2points in 2019, compared to a year earlier.

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

The average for 2021 based on 13 countries was 78.72 percent. The highest value was in Mauritius: 99.3 percent and the lowest value was in Guinea: 60.33 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

There is a gender gap in the literacy rate among the youth worldwide. Although the literacy rates have increased worldwide for both young men and women between 15 and 24 years, men are on average more literate than women. As of 2023, nearly 94 percent of young men and roughly 91.7 percent of women in the world were literate. A similar picture was seen for the adult population worldwide.

This statistic shows the youth literacy rates in the Asia Pacific region in 2014, by country. In 2014, the youth literacy rate among the population aged between 15 and 24 in Afghanistan amounted to approximately ***** percent.

The average for 2021 based on 13 countries was 94.75 percent. The highest value was in Singapore: 100 percent and the lowest value was in Afghanistan: 56 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Global Gender Parity Index for Youth Literacy Rate by Country, 2023 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

The global youth literacy rate has been increasing over the past decades and stood at 90.85 percent in 2018. Over this period, the literacy rates increased for both girls and boys, although gender disparities still persist. THe literacy rate for girls stood at 89.42 percent in 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 2023, about 90.6 percent of men and a little less than 84.1 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.

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

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.

Bhutan BT: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data was reported at 98.000 % in 2022. This records an increase from the previous number of 93.000 % for 2017. Bhutan BT: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 89.500 % from Dec 2005 (Median) to 2022, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 98.000 % in 2022 and a record low of 74.000 % in 2005. Bhutan BT: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Bhutan – Table BT.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;

This statistic shows the bottom ** countries in Asia in terms of literacy rates in 2015. Within the region, Papua New Guinea is the *** least literate country with a literacy rate of ***** percent.

Context

The literacy rate is defined by the percentage of the population of a given age group that can read and write. The adult literacy rate corresponds to ages 15 and above, the youth literacy rate to ages 15 to 24. It is typically measured according to the ability to comprehend a short simple statement on everyday life.

Content

The dataset contains information about the literacy rates across the globe for various countries. It is grouped into 3 major categories, Total %, Male% and Female %. The dataset has 2 csv files. 1) Adults_15YrsAndUp.csv - Contains literacy rate information for Adults

2) Youth_15to24Yrs.csv - Contains literacy rate information for Youth

Acknowledgements

The dataset is sourced from Unicef.

Inspiration

Exploratory Data Analysis to find greater insights into the data.

The average for 2021 based on 4 countries was 97.6 percent. The highest value was in Singapore: 100 percent and the lowest value was in Cambodia: 91.83 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Laos LA: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data was reported at 77.273 % in 2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 89.187 % for 2005. Laos LA: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 82.599 % from Dec 1995 (Median) to 2011, with 5 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 89.187 % in 2005 and a record low of 77.273 % in 2011. Laos LA: 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 Laos – Table LA.World Bank.WDI: 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; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Ukraine UA: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data was reported at 99.983 % in 2012. This records an increase from the previous number of 99.835 % for 2001. Ukraine UA: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 99.909 % from Dec 2001 (Median) to 2012, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 99.983 % in 2012 and a record low of 99.835 % in 2001. Ukraine UA: 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 Ukraine – Table UA.World Bank: 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; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

The average for 2021 based on 2 countries was 99 percent. The highest value was in the United Arab Emirates: 100 percent and the lowest value was in Syria: 98 percent. The indicator is available from 1970 to 2023. Below is a chart for all countries where data are available.

Mexico MX: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data was reported at 99.116 % in 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 98.945 % for 2015. Mexico MX: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 98.382 % from Dec 1980 (Median) to 2016, with 17 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 99.116 % in 2016 and a record low of 91.947 % in 1980. Mexico MX: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Mexico – Table MX.World Bank.WDI: 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 (http://uis.unesco.org/); Weighted average;