Literacy Rates Continue to Rise from One Generation to the Next

Abstract

Although literacy has been high on the development agenda over the past decades, UIS data show that 750 million adults – two-thirds of whom are women – still lack basic reading and writing skills, according to the latest available data for 2016. 102 million of the illiterate population were between 15 and 24 years old. The global adult literacy rate was 86% in 2016, while the youth literacy rate was 91%. According to UIS data, the majority of countries missed the Education for All (EFA) goal of reducing adult illiteracy rates by 50% between 2000 and 2015. At the global level, the adult and youth literacy rates are estimated to have grown by only 4% each over this period.