Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) - Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above)

Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above) in Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) was 56.35 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 34 years was 56.35 in 2020, while its lowest value was 32.02 in 1986.

Definition: 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.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)

See also:

Year Value
1986 32.02
1987 32.73
1988 33.32
1989 33.85
1990 34.51
1991 34.84
1992 35.18
1993 35.64
1994 36.37
1995 36.56
1996 37.25
1997 38.24
1998 38.91
1999 39.71
2000 40.82
2001 41.67
2002 41.43
2003 42.32
2004 43.62
2005 43.18
2006 41.62
2007 43.44
2008 43.68
2009 43.84
2010 45.07
2011 47.49
2012 48.98
2013 50.06
2014 51.10
2015 51.81
2016 52.94
2017 54.13
2018 54.82
2019 55.61
2020 56.35

Development Relevance: Literacy rate is an outcome indicator to evaluate educational attainment. This data can predict the quality of future labor force and can be used in ensuring policies for life skills for men and women. It can be also used as a proxy instrument to see the effectiveness of education system; a high literacy rate suggests the capacity of an education system to provide a large population with opportunities to acquire literacy skills. The accumulated achievement of education is fundamental for further intellectual growth and social and economic development, although it doesn't necessarily ensure the quality of education. Literate women implies that they can seek and use information for the betterment of the health, nutrition and education of their household members. Literate women are also empowered to play a meaningful role.

Limitations and Exceptions: In practice, literacy is difficult to measure. Estimating literacy rates requires census or survey measurements under controlled conditions. Many countries report the number of literate people from self-reported data. Some use educational attainment data as a proxy but apply different lengths of school attendance or levels of completion. Ant there is a trend among recent national and international surveys toward using a direct reading test of literacy skills. Because definitions and methods of data collection differ across countries, data should be used cautiously.

Other Notes: Data retrieved via API in March 2019. For detailed information on the observation level (e.g. National Estimation, UIS Estimation, or Category not applicable), please visit UIS.Stat (http://data.uis.unesco.org/).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Literacy statistics for most countries cover the population ages 15 and older, but some include younger ages or are confined to age ranges that tend to inflate literacy rates. The youth literacy rate for ages 15-24 reflects recent progress in education. It measures the accumulated outcomes of primary education over the previous 10 years or so by indicating the proportion of the population who have passed through the primary education system and acquired basic literacy and numeracy skills. Generally, literacy also encompasses numeracy, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. Data on literacy are compiled by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics based on national censuses and household surveys and, for countries without recent literacy data, using the Global Age-Specific Literacy Projection Model (GALP). For detailed information, see www.uis.unesco.org.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Education Indicators

Sub-Topic: Outcomes