Youth literacy rate, ages 15 to 24
Share of people aged 15 to 24 who can both read and write, with understanding, a short simple statement about their everyday life.
59 countries have a value for 2022, the latest period with data for most countries. Some countries have newer figures; see the ranking below for each country's latest year.
Trend over time
The chart loads when you scroll to it. The table below shows the same data.
The chart shows a calculation from the published values. The table below keeps the published values.
% of people aged 15 to 24. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), databrowser.uis.unesco.org. Gaps mean no published value; points are not joined across missing years.
| Period | China | India | Brazil |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | – | 97.3% | 99.5% |
| 2023 | – | 97.0% | 99.3% |
| 2022 | – | 96.5% | 99.3% |
| 2021 | – | 95.9% | 99.3% |
| 2020 | 99.8% | 95.7% | 99.2% |
| 2019 | – | 94.8% | 99.1% |
| 2018 | – | 94.6% | 99.2% |
| 2017 | – | – | 99.2% |
| 2016 | – | 90.3% | 99.1% |
| 2015 | – | – | 99.0% |
| 2014 | – | – | 98.8% |
| 2013 | – | – | 98.7% |
| 2012 | – | 90.0% | 98.6% |
| 2011 | – | 86.1% | 98.5% |
| 2010 | 99.6% | 87.9% | 97.5% |
| 2009 | – | – | 98.1% |
| 2008 | – | – | 97.8% |
| 2007 | – | – | 97.8% |
| 2006 | – | 81.1% | 97.6% |
| 2005 | – | – | 97.1% |
| 2004 | – | – | 96.8% |
| 2003 | – | – | 96.6% |
| 2002 | – | – | 96.3% |
| 2001 | – | 76.4% | 95.8% |
| 2000 | 98.9% | – | 94.2% |
A dash means no value was published for that period.
In short
- Among the 59 countries with a value for 2022, the highest is Mauritius (100.0%) and the lowest Niger (53.9%).
- Half of the countries are above 98.5% and half below.
- From 2021 to 2022 the value rose in 4 countries and fell in 3.
About this measure
Before comparing
- Many values come from censuses and surveys held years apart; check the year shown.
Source and dates
All countries in 2022 Every value is for 2022, so the countries are compared at the same point in time.
- 1 Mauritius 100.0%
- 2 San Marino 100.0%
- 3 Tuvalu 100.0%
- 4 Uzbekistan 100.0%
- 5 Turkmenistan 99.9%
- 6 Philippines 99.8%
- 7 Armenia 99.8%
- 8 Serbia 99.7%
- 9 Georgia 99.7%
- 10 Mongolia 99.7%
- 11 Oman 99.7%
- 12 United Arab Emirates 99.7%
- 13 Ecuador 99.6%
- 14 Qatar 99.4%
- 15 West Bank and Gaza 99.4%
- 16 Brazil 99.3%
- 17 Chile 99.3%
- 18 Panama 99.3%
- 19 Peru 99.3%
- 20 Bahrain 99.2%
- 21 Uruguay 99.1%
- 22 Viet Nam 99.1%
- 23 Mexico 98.9%
- 24 Colombia 98.9%
- 25 Sri Lanka 98.8%
- 26 Malaysia 98.8%
- 27 Eswatini 98.7%
- 28 Iran 98.6%
- 29 Paraguay 98.6%
- 30 Dominican Republic 98.5%
- 31 El Salvador 98.3%
- 32 Thailand 98.2%
- 33 Bhutan 97.7%
- 34 India 96.5%
- 35 Belize 96.2%
- 36 Honduras 95.9%
- 37 Egypt 95.2%
- 38 Guatemala 95.0%
- 39 Laos 93.8%
- 40 Indonesia 93.8%
- 41 Jamaica 93.6%
- 42 Bangladesh 93.4%
- 43 Türkiye 92.2%
- 44 Trinidad and Tobago 92.0%
- 45 Papua New Guinea 91.9%
- 46 Togo 90.4%
- 47 Rwanda 90.0%
- 48 Tanzania 87.1%
- 49 Timor-Leste 86.1%
- 50 Ethiopia 84.7%
- 51 Zambia 84.5%
- 52 Guinea-Bissau 82.2%
- 53 Senegal 75.3%
- 54 Mozambique 71.4%
- 55 Benin 71.3%
- 56 Somalia, Fed. Rep. 70.7%
- 57 Burkina Faso 62.8%
- 58 Afghanistan 62.7%
- 59 Niger 53.9%
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Related measures
- Adult literacy rateWorld Bank
In this topic
Map
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Grey: no value for 2022. Colour groups split countries into roughly equal numbers. Boundaries: Natural Earth.