Literacy rate, youth aged 15 to 24

percent, 1999–2016

Country	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Afghanistan													46.99
Albania			99.44	99.35	99.26	99.18	99.09	99.00	98.92	98.83	98.82	98.80	98.79	99.23
Algeria				90.14	90.55	90.96	91.37	91.78	92.77	93.77
Andorra																	100.00	100.00
Angola			72.19	72.60	73.00	73.40	73.81	74.21	74.61	75.01	75.42	75.82	76.22	76.63	77.03	77.43
Argentina			98.92	98.94	98.97	99.00	99.03	99.05	99.08	99.11	99.14	99.16	99.19	99.22	99.25	99.27	99.30
Armenia			99.81	99.81	99.82	99.82	99.82	99.83	99.83	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.85
Aruba		99.03	99.04	99.05	99.06	99.07	99.08	99.09	99.10	99.12	99.13	99.14
Azerbaijan	99.89	99.90	99.91	99.93	99.94	99.96	99.97	99.99	100.00	99.98	99.95	99.95	99.94	99.94	99.95	99.96	99.94	99.94
Bahrain			97.02	97.15	97.28	97.40	97.53	97.66	97.78	97.91	98.04	98.16
Bangladesh			63.62	63.33	63.04	62.75	62.46	62.16	61.87	62.83	63.79	64.75	65.71	71.02	76.33	81.63	86.94	92.24
Belarus	99.79	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.81	99.81	99.81	99.82	99.82	99.82
Benin				45.31	44.57	43.84	43.10	42.36	44.05	45.74	47.43	49.12	50.80	52.49
Bhutan							74.41	76.25	78.09	79.94	81.78	83.63	85.47	87.32
Bolivia			97.32	97.68	98.03	98.38	98.74	99.09	99.44	99.12	99.38	99.20	99.01	99.00	99.13	99.26	99.40
Bosnia and Herzegovina		99.79	99.76	99.73	99.70	99.67	99.64	99.61	99.58	99.55	99.52	99.49	99.46	99.56	99.66
Botswana					93.96
Brazil		94.18	94.85	95.51	96.18	96.84	97.21	97.58	97.80	97.84	98.07	97.51	98.49	98.62	98.74	98.85
Brunei			98.89	98.94	98.99	99.04	99.08	99.13	99.18	99.22	99.27	99.32	99.37
Bulgaria			98.21	98.18	98.14	98.11	98.07	98.04	98.00	97.97	97.93	97.90	97.87
Burkina Faso					31.23	32.10	32.97	32.73	39.26	40.81	42.35	43.90	45.45	47.00	48.55	50.10
Burundi		73.33	71.88	70.43	68.98	67.53	66.09	64.64	63.19	61.74	64.71	67.68	70.65	73.62	76.59	79.56
Ivory Coast		60.72	59.69	58.65	57.62	56.59	55.55	54.52	53.48	52.45	51.41	50.38	49.34	48.31	50.67	53.02
Cape Verde														98.13	98.12	98.12	98.11
Cambodia						83.38	84.41	85.43	86.45	87.47	87.13
Cameroon		83.10	83.10	83.11	83.11	83.12	83.12	83.13	83.14	82.28	81.43	80.57
Cayman Islands									98.91
Central African Republic		60.81	58.36	55.92	53.47	51.03	48.58	46.14	43.69	41.25	38.80	36.36
Chad		37.56	38.59	39.62	40.64	41.67	41.41	41.15	40.88	40.62	40.35	40.09	39.83	39.56	39.30	39.04	38.77	30.79
Chile				98.99	99.02	99.05	99.07	99.10	99.13	99.15	98.87	99.14	99.41	99.23	99.05
China		98.86	98.94	99.02	99.09	99.17	99.25	99.33	99.41	99.49	99.56	99.64
Macau			99.63	99.64	99.64	99.64	99.64	99.64	99.65	99.66	99.66	99.67	99.67	99.70	99.72	99.75	99.77	99.80
Colombia						97.99	97.96	97.88	97.97	97.99	97.94	98.10	98.24	98.34	98.44	98.54	98.53
Comoros		80.19	79.47	78.75	78.03	77.32	76.60	75.88	75.17	74.45	73.73	73.02	72.30	71.58
Congo (Brazzaville)													80.91
Costa Rica		97.61	97.75	97.89	98.03	98.17	98.31	98.44	98.58	98.72	98.86	99.00	99.13
Croatia			99.65	99.66	99.66	99.67	99.68	99.69	99.69	99.70	99.71	99.72	99.72
Cuba				99.96	99.95	99.94	99.93	99.92	99.92	99.91	99.90	99.89	99.88	99.87
Cyprus			99.77	99.78	99.78	99.79	99.79	99.80	99.80	99.81	99.81	99.82	99.82
North Korea										100.00
Congo (Kinshasa)			70.42	69.64	68.87	68.10	67.32	66.55	65.78	69.34	72.90	76.47	80.03	83.60	83.95	84.29	84.64	84.99
Dominican Republic				94.22	94.53	94.85	95.16	95.47	95.79	96.13	96.47	96.81	97.04	97.02	97.47	97.69	97.61
Ecuador			96.44	96.27	96.10	95.93	95.76	95.60	95.43	96.13	96.83	98.65	98.69	98.83	98.60	99.10	99.13	99.06
Egypt							84.93	84.88	85.54	86.19	86.85	87.51	88.40	89.28	92.02
El Salvador								94.95	93.56	95.96	95.02	96.03	96.55	96.88	97.22	97.59	97.95
Equatorial Guinea		97.13
Eritrea				77.95	79.45	80.96	82.46	83.97	85.47	86.97
Estonia		99.77	99.79	99.80	99.82	99.84	99.85	99.87	99.88	99.90	99.92	99.93	99.95
Ethiopia						49.90	44.61	49.79	54.98
Gabon														88.50
Gambia		52.56	53.19	53.82	54.45	55.09	55.72	56.35	56.98	57.62	58.25	58.88	59.51	60.15	60.78
Georgia				99.83	99.82	99.81	99.79	99.78	99.77	99.76	99.75	99.74	99.73	99.72	99.71	99.70
Ghana		70.66	72.17	73.67	75.18	76.68	78.19	79.69	81.20	82.71	84.21	85.72
Greece			98.94	99.09	99.23	99.38	99.53	99.55	99.56	99.53	99.49	99.09	98.69
Greenland																	100.00
Guatemala				82.22	83.36	84.51	85.65	86.79	87.94	89.08	90.22	91.37	92.51	93.65	91.85	94.35
Guinea					47.09	44.85	42.61	40.37	38.13	35.89	33.65	31.41	35.13	38.85	42.57	46.30
Guinea Bissau		59.49	59.56	59.62	59.69	59.75	59.82	59.88	59.95	60.01	60.08	60.14	60.21	60.27	60.34	60.40
Guyana											93.10	93.82	94.54	95.25	95.97	96.69
Haiti					81.62	78.53	75.44	72.35
Honduras			88.94	89.77	90.60	91.43	92.26	93.09	93.92	94.33	94.74	95.15	95.93	94.98	95.07	95.68	96.01	96.13
India			76.43	77.37	78.31	79.25	80.19	81.13	82.13	83.14	84.14	85.14	86.14
Indonesia						98.71	97.68	96.65	98.06	99.46	99.47	99.13	98.78	99.08	99.38	99.68	99.67	99.67
Iran							97.43	96.64	97.26	97.87	97.91	97.94	97.98	98.01	97.78	97.94
Iraq		84.80	82.30	79.80	77.30	74.80	72.31	69.81	67.31	64.81	62.31	59.81	57.32	54.82	52.32
Italy			99.81	99.82	99.82	99.83	99.83	99.84	99.84	99.85	99.85	99.85	99.86
Jamaica	91.60
Jordan					99.13	99.05	98.98	98.96	98.95	98.89	98.82	98.76	99.15	99.11
Kazakhstan	99.85	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.84	99.83	99.90
Kenya		92.53	91.08	89.63	88.18	86.74	85.29	83.84	82.39	82.98	83.57	84.16	84.75	85.34	85.93	86.53
Kuwait							99.73	98.51	98.45	98.64	98.77	98.90	98.84	98.78	99.15	99.21	99.26
Kyrgyzstan	99.70	99.70	99.71	99.71	99.72	99.72	99.73	99.74	99.74	99.75	99.75
Laos		80.60	78.46	79.83	81.19	82.56	83.93	81.95	79.97	77.99	76.01	74.04	72.06
Latvia		99.75	99.76	99.77	99.77	99.78	99.79	99.80	99.80	99.81	99.82	99.83	99.84
Lebanon									98.71	98.98	99.24
Lesotho		90.93	90.07	89.21	88.35	87.49	86.63	85.77	84.91	84.05	83.19	83.88	84.57	85.26	85.94	86.63
Liberia									49.07
Lithuania			99.70	99.72	99.73	99.75	99.76	99.78	99.79	99.81	99.83	99.84	99.86
Madagascar		70.24	69.65	69.06	68.47	67.88	67.29	66.71	66.12	65.53	64.94	68.90	72.87	76.83
Malawi												72.14	73.13	74.11	75.10	76.08	72.94
Malaysia		97.24	97.36	97.47	97.59	97.71	97.83	97.95	98.06	98.18	98.30	98.42
Maldives		98.17	98.36	98.55	98.74	98.92	99.11	99.30	99.30	99.29	99.29	99.28	99.28	99.28	99.27	99.27
Mali								38.82	40.19	41.56	42.93	44.30	47.14	47.69	48.25	48.81	49.37
Malta							98.27	98.37	98.47	98.57	98.68	98.78	98.88
Marshall Islands													98.46
Mauritania		61.34	60.59	59.85	59.10	58.36	57.61	56.87	56.12
Mauritius		94.54	94.87	95.19	95.52	95.84	96.17	96.50	96.82	97.15	97.48	97.80	98.13
Mexico		96.61	97.11	97.60	97.58	97.56	97.64	97.90	98.16	98.38	98.52	98.43	98.46	98.88	98.56	99.00	98.94
Mongolia		97.71	97.79	97.86	97.94	98.01	98.09	98.16	98.24	98.31	98.39	98.46
Montenegro					99.41	99.39	99.36	99.34	99.31	99.29	99.26	99.24	99.21
Morocco						70.46	72.31	74.16	76.01	77.86	79.47	80.49	81.51	91.22
Mozambique					61.89	62.77	63.65	64.52	65.40	66.27	67.15
Burma (Myanmar)		94.59	93.97	93.36	92.74	92.13	91.51	90.90	90.28	89.67	89.05	88.44	87.82	87.21	86.60	85.98	85.37	84.75
Namibia			92.42	91.54	90.65	89.76	88.87	87.98	87.10	88.93	90.76	92.59	94.42
Nepal			70.05	71.52	72.99	74.46	75.94	77.41	78.88	80.35	81.82	83.29	84.76
Nicaragua			86.22	86.42	86.62	86.81	87.01
Niger			19.79	23.98	28.17	32.36	36.55	34.69	32.83	30.97	29.11	27.24	25.38	23.52
Nigeria					68.99	68.47	67.95	67.43	66.91	66.38
Oman					97.28	97.35	97.42	97.49	97.56	97.63	97.69	97.74	98.08	98.42	98.76	99.09	99.15	98.70
Pakistan							65.09	69.17	70.14	71.11	70.68	71.26	70.77	72.58	71.64	72.80
Palau															99.84	99.25	98.66
West Bank and Gaza						98.94	99.02	99.09	99.06	99.02	99.23	99.24	99.31	99.29	99.35	99.36	99.34	99.38
Panama		96.08	96.24	96.39	96.55	96.70	96.86	97.02	97.17	97.33	97.48	97.64
Papua New Guinea		66.68
Paraguay									98.79	97.96	98.50	98.61	98.63	98.65	98.67	98.69	98.33
Peru						96.76	97.12	97.76	97.36	97.62	97.89	98.16	98.43	98.70	98.84	98.98	99.01	98.88
Philippines		95.09	95.08	95.07	95.06	95.60	96.13	96.67	97.21	97.75	97.82	97.89	97.97	98.04	98.11
Portugal													99.44
Puerto Rico												98.83
Qatar						95.92	96.97	98.01	99.06	95.69	97.76	96.82	97.88	99.06	98.96	98.71
Moldova		99.53	99.52	99.51	99.51	99.50	99.50	99.49	99.48	99.48	99.47	99.47	99.46	99.46
Romania				97.76	97.90	98.04	98.17	98.31	98.45	98.58	98.72	98.86	99.00
Russia				99.72	99.72	99.72	99.72	99.72	99.72	99.71	99.71	99.71
Rwanda		77.62	77.59	77.57	77.54	77.51	77.48	77.45	77.43	77.40	77.37	77.34	79.84	82.33
Samoa													99.24
Saint Thomas and Principe			95.42	93.24	91.07	88.90	86.72	84.55	82.38	80.20	84.34	88.47	92.60	96.74
Saudi Arabia		95.91	95.90	95.88	95.87	95.85	96.22	96.60	96.97	97.35	97.72	98.10	98.47	98.85	99.22
Senegal				49.12	49.56	49.99	50.42	50.85	55.57	60.29	65.01	65.52	66.03	60.96	55.90
Serbia													99.31	99.39	99.47	99.56	99.64	99.72
Seychelles				99.06	99.05	99.04	99.03	99.02	99.01	98.99	98.98	98.97
Sierra Leone						47.93	48.94	49.95	50.96	51.97	52.98	53.99	55.00	56.01	57.02
Singapore		99.50	99.53	99.55	99.58	99.60	99.63	99.65	99.68	99.70	99.73	99.75	99.89	99.89	99.90	99.90	99.78	99.93
South Africa									97.57	97.97	98.37	98.64	98.79	98.88	98.88	98.88	98.96
South Sudan										36.70
Spain						99.56	99.54	99.55	99.57	99.56	99.60	99.59	99.70	99.67	99.67	99.72	99.66	99.62
Sri Lanka			95.59	95.97	96.35	96.73	97.11	97.48	97.73	97.98	98.07	98.16
Sudan		78.16	76.61	75.07	73.52	71.98	70.44	68.89	67.35	65.81
Suriname						94.88	96.02	97.15	98.28	99.42	98.90	98.38	98.02	97.67
Swaziland		91.86	92.03	92.19	92.36	92.52	92.68	92.85	93.01	93.17	93.34	93.50
Syria				95.19	93.82	92.45
Tajikistan		99.85
Thailand		97.98	97.99	98.01	98.02	98.04	98.05	97.76	97.47	97.18	96.89	96.60	97.17	97.74	98.31	98.23	98.15
Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.)				98.74
Timor Leste												79.53
Togo		74.44	74.78	75.11	75.45	75.78	76.12	76.45	78.21	79.98	81.74	80.81	79.89	80.99	82.09	83.19	84.29
Tonga								99.42	99.43	99.43	99.43	99.43	99.44
Tunisia						94.34	94.99	95.65	96.30	96.79	96.98	97.17	97.30	96.87	96.54	96.21
Turkey						95.60	96.12	96.18	96.36	97.08	97.81	98.22	98.71	99.02	99.23	99.36	99.49
Uganda				80.79	81.61	82.43	83.25	84.07	84.90	85.74	86.57	87.41	85.53	83.66
Ukraine			99.80	99.82	99.83	99.85	99.86	99.88	99.89	99.91	99.92	99.94	99.95	99.97
United Arab Emirates							95.01
Tanzania				78.40	77.92	77.44	76.96	76.48	76.00	75.52	75.04	74.56	80.25	85.94	85.88	85.82	85.76
Uruguay								98.71	98.76	98.97	98.86	98.78	98.86	98.96	98.93	98.84	98.93
Uzbekistan		99.87	99.88	99.89	99.90	99.91	99.92	99.93	99.94	99.95	99.96	99.97	99.98	99.99	100.00	100.00	100.00
Venezuela			97.20	97.40	97.60	97.80	98.00	98.20	98.40	98.47	98.53	98.05	97.56	97.92	98.28	98.65	99.01	98.76
Vietnam	94.10	94.84	95.09	95.34	95.59	95.84	96.09	96.34	96.59	96.84	97.09
Zambia	69.46	69.33	69.21	69.09	68.08	67.07	66.07	65.06	64.05	72.27	80.49	88.71
Zimbabwe													90.93	90.76	90.60	90.43

Number of people aged 15 to 24 who can both read and write, with understanding, a short simple statement on their everyday life, divided by the population in that age group. Generally, “literacy” also encompasses “numeracy” (i.e., the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations).

Source: UNESCO

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