South Asia - Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above)

Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above) in South Asia was 65.55 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 45 years was 65.55 in 2020, while its lowest value was 21.43 in 1975.

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
1975 21.43
1976 21.44
1977 22.17
1978 22.92
1979 23.68
1980 24.42
1981 24.66
1982 25.91
1983 26.70
1984 27.51
1985 28.32
1986 29.14
1987 29.98
1988 29.96
1989 30.87
1990 31.77
1991 32.43
1992 33.55
1993 34.47
1994 35.40
1995 36.35
1996 37.33
1997 38.32
1998 42.89
1999 43.90
2000 44.93
2001 45.71
2002 46.97
2003 47.83
2004 48.86
2005 48.05
2006 49.34
2007 49.88
2008 51.69
2009 52.70
2010 55.73
2011 56.83
2012 57.47
2013 58.45
2014 59.46
2015 60.56
2016 62.14
2017 63.05
2018 63.72
2019 64.64
2020 65.55

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