Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24) - Country Ranking

Definition: Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 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: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Korea 100.00 2008
2 Uzbekistan 100.00 2019
3 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 100.00 2008
4 Serbia 100.00 2019
5 Ukraine 99.98 2012
6 Estonia 99.96 2011
7 Italy 99.95 2018
8 Singapore 99.94 2019
9 Azerbaijan 99.91 2019
10 Slovenia 99.90 2014
10 Tajikistan 99.90 2014
10 Barbados 99.90 2014
10 Turkmenistan 99.90 2014
14 Belarus 99.90 2019
15 Armenia 99.90 2020
16 Cuba 99.90 2012
17 Lithuania 99.87 2011
18 Macao SAR, China 99.87 2016
19 Latvia 99.86 2018
20 Kazakhstan 99.85 2018
21 Turkey 99.85 2019
22 Lebanon 99.84 2018
23 Cyprus 99.84 2011
24 Poland 99.82 2008
25 Moldova 99.82 2014
26 Kyrgyz Republic 99.81 2018
27 Brunei 99.79 2018
28 China 99.78 2018
29 Indonesia 99.78 2020
30 Argentina 99.76 2018
31 Spain 99.76 2020
32 Russia 99.75 2018
33 Croatia 99.74 2011
34 Portugal 99.70 2018
35 Georgia 99.68 2019
36 Bosnia and Herzegovina 99.67 2013
37 Albania 99.63 2018
38 Trinidad and Tobago 99.60 2010
38 Seychelles 99.60 2018
40 Kuwait 99.58 2020
41 Malta 99.56 2018
42 Tonga 99.54 2018
43 Costa Rica 99.53 2018
44 Grenada 99.50 2014
45 Jordan 99.49 2018
46 Saudi Arabia 99.45 2020
47 Romania 99.44 2018
48 Samoa 99.44 2018
49 Brazil 99.43 2018
50 Bolivia 99.40 2015
51 Libya 99.40 2004
52 Mauritius 99.35 2018
53 Peru 99.35 2020
54 Uruguay 99.32 2019
55 New Caledonia 99.30 2014
56 Colombia 99.29 2020
57 Mongolia 99.23 2020
58 Sri Lanka 99.21 2019
59 Mexico 99.17 2020
60 Palau 99.17 2015
61 North Macedonia 99.16 2020
62 Botswana 99.14 2013
63 Venezuela 99.09 2016
64 Ecuador 99.09 2020
65 United Arab Emirates 99.09 2019
66 Greece 99.07 2018
67 Chile 99.01 2017
68 Hungary 99.00 2014
69 Oman 98.98 2018
70 Montenegro 98.97 2018
71 Philippines 98.89 2019
72 Dominican Republic 98.87 2016
73 Panama 98.86 2019
74 South Africa 98.83 2019
75 Jamaica 98.80 2014
76 Cabo Verde 98.73 2015
77 El Salvador 98.69 2019
78 Paraguay 98.66 2020
79 Cayman Islands 98.62 2007
80 Thailand 98.59 2018
81 Vietnam 98.54 2019
82 Suriname 98.40 2018
83 Equatorial Guinea 98.30 2010
84 Israel 98.05 1983
85 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 98.00 1970
86 Iran 97.93 2016
87 São Tomé and Principe 97.85 2018
88 Bulgaria 97.65 2011
89 Morocco 97.40 2018
90 Honduras 97.29 2019
91 Algeria 97.25 2018
92 Guyana 97.04 2014
93 Malaysia 96.98 2019
94 Eswatini 96.70 2018
95 Vanuatu 96.60 2018
96 Namibia 96.20 2018
97 Qatar 96.11 2017
98 Bangladesh 95.86 2020
99 Tunisia 95.80 2014
100 Myanmar 95.55 2019
101 Bahrain 95.12 2010
102 Lesotho 93.97 2014
103 Guatemala 93.87 2018
104 Nicaragua 93.60 2015
105 Zimbabwe 93.19 2014
106 Bhutan 92.89 2017
107 Eritrea 92.71 2018
108 Cambodia 92.57 2015
109 Puerto Rico 92.39 2017
110 Ghana 92.21 2018
111 Iraq 92.10 2017
112 Zambia 91.63 2018
113 Gabon 91.45 2018
114 Nepal 90.88 2018
115 Lao PDR 90.50 2015
116 Syrian Arab Republic 90.22 2004
117 India 90.17 2018
118 Uganda 89.95 2018
119 Rwanda 88.50 2018
120 Kenya 88.08 2018
121 Egypt 86.81 2017
122 Burundi 85.62 2017
123 Timor-Leste 84.65 2018
124 Tanzania 84.64 2015
125 Belize 84.54 2000
126 Togo 84.01 2019
127 Haiti 82.63 2016
128 Cameroon 82.41 2018
129 Dem. Rep. Congo 79.71 2016
130 Madagascar 79.18 2018
131 Congo 78.74 2018
132 Comoros 78.30 2018
133 Côte d'Ivoire 76.41 2019
134 Sudan 73.49 2018
135 Malawi 73.39 2015
136 Ethiopia 71.97 2017
137 Papua New Guinea 71.40 2010
138 Angola 70.59 2014
139 Nigeria 68.26 2018
140 Mozambique 65.49 2017
141 Pakistan 65.19 2019
142 The Gambia 64.45 2015
143 Senegal 63.50 2017
144 Sierra Leone 62.70 2018
145 Yemen 60.60 2004
146 Mauritania 56.76 2017
147 Burkina Faso 54.45 2018
148 Benin 51.94 2018
149 Guinea-Bissau 49.76 2014
150 Liberia 45.64 2017
151 Guinea 43.47 2018
152 Afghanistan 41.59 2021
153 Mali 38.45 2020
154 Niger 35.56 2018
155 Central African Republic 28.71 2018
156 Chad 22.39 2016
157 Somalia 10.46 1972

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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