World Literacy Rate 1976-2025

World literacy rate for 2022 was 87.01%, a 0.16% increase from 2021.
  • World literacy rate for 2021 was 86.85%, a 0.14% increase from 2020.
  • World literacy rate for 2020 was 86.71%, a 0.22% increase from 2019.
  • World literacy rate for 2019 was 86.49%, a 0.15% increase from 2018.
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.