Showing posts with label literacy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label literacy. Show all posts

Adult and youth literacy in 2011

8 September is International Literacy Day, an occasion to reflect on the status of literacy worldwide. Globally, 84% of all adults 15 years and older were able to read and write in 2011, the most recent year for which the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has released data (see Table 1). Two regions, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, are near universal literacy, with adult literacy rates of 99% and 100%, respectively. Literacy rates are assumed to be at a similarly high level in North America and Western Europe but data coverage is insufficient for the calculation of a regional average. Literacy rates are also high in East Asia and the Pacific (95%) and in Latin America and the Caribbean (92%). In the remaining regions, adult literacy rates are below the global average: Arab States (77%), South and West Asia (63%), and sub-Saharan Africa (59%).

Male and female adult literacy rates are at nearly the same levels in three regions: Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean (see Table 1). In the Arab States, East Asia and the Pacific, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, female literacy rates are lower than male literacy rates. The gender parity index (GPI), the ratio of the female over the male literacy rate, shows that the biggest gender gap exists in South and West Asia (GPI 0.70) and in sub-Saharan Africa (GPI 0.74). Globally, the male literacy rate is 89% and the female literacy rate 80%, which yields a GPI of 0.90, far below the range of gender parity with GPI values between 0.97 and 1.03.

Table 1: Adult and youth literacy rate, 2011
Region Adult literacy rate (%) Youth literacy rate (%)
Total Male Female GPI Total Male Female GPI
Arab States 76.9 84.7 68.4 0.81 89.9 93.2 86.5 0.93
Central and Eastern Europe 98.5 99.3 97.8 0.99 99.3 99.5 99.2 1.00
Central Asia 99.5 99.6 99.4 1.00 99.7 99.6 99.8 1.00
East Asia and the Pacific 94.7 96.9 92.5 0.95 98.9 98.9 98.8 1.00
Latin America and the Caribbean 91.6 92.2 90.9 0.99 97.1 96.8 97.4 1.01
North America and Western Europe - - - - - - - -
South and West Asia 62.8 74.0 51.9 0.70 80.7 86.8 74.9 0.86
Sub-Saharan Africa 59.1 68.1 50.6 0.74 69.5 75.6 63.7 0.84
World 84.1 88.6 79.9 0.90 89.5 92.2 86.8 0.94
Note: GPI = gender parity index.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013.

National adult literacy rates are displayed in Figure 1. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia have generally lower literacy rates than countries in other regions. In 11 countries, nearly all in sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than half of all adults are able to read and write: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

Figure 1: Adult literacy rate, 2011

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013. - Click image to enlarge.

The UIS estimates that the adult illiterate population was 774 million in 2011 (see Table 2). Three out of four illiterate adults live in only two regions: South and West Asia (407 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (182 million). In all regions, the number of illiterate women is larger than the number of illiterate men. Globally, 493 million or two thirds of the adult illiterate population are female.

Table 2: Adult and youth illiterate population, 2011
Region Adult illiterate population (000) Youth illiterate population (000)
Total Male Female % female Total Male Female % female
Arab States 47,603 16,082 31,521 66.2 6,037 2,099 3,938 65.2
Central and Eastern Europe 4,919 1,104 3,815 77.5 386 157 229 59.4
Central Asia 290 108 182 62.7 45 30 14 32.5
East Asia and the Pacific 89,478 26,356 63,122 70.5 4,081 2,005 2,076 50.9
Latin America and the Caribbean 35,614 15,994 19,620 55.1 3,043 1,676 1,367 44.9
North America and Western Europe - - - - - - - -
South and West Asia 407,021 147,352 259,669 63.8 61,778 22,316 39,461 63.9
Sub-Saharan Africa 181,950 70,535 111,414 61.2 47,558 19,196 28,362 59.6
World 773,549 280,366 493,184 63.8 123,198 47,626 75,571 61.3
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013.

The global youth literacy rate, for the population 15 to 24 years of age, was 90% in 2011 (see Table 1). Youth literacy rates are higher than adult literacy rates in all regions, a result of increased levels of school attendance among younger generations. Of the regions with data, four are near universal youth literacy: Central and Eastern Europe (99%), Central Asia (100%), East Asia and the Pacific (99%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (97%). In the Arab States, the youth literacy rate is 90%. In South and West Asia (81%) and sub-Saharan Africa (70%), the youth literacy rate is below the global average.

Literacy rates among the population 15-24 years are not only higher than among the total population 15 years and older, there is also a smaller gap between the literacy rates of young men and women (see Table 1). However, gender disparity in youth literacy is observed in the Arab States (GPI 0.93), South and West Asia (GPI 0.86), and sub-Saharan Africa (GPI 0.84); in these regions, young women are less likely to be able to read and write than young men. At the global level, the male youth literacy rate is 92% and the female youth literacy rate 87%.

National youth literacy rates are displayed in Figure 2. Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as the one region where youth literacy rates are significantly lower than in other regions. Seven countries have youth literacy rates below 50%: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Niger.

Figure 2: Youth literacy rate, 2011

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013. - Click image to enlarge.

The youth illiterate population, a subset of the adult illiterate population, was estimated at 123 million in 2011 (see Table 2). Illiterate youth are concentrated in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; 89% of the global population of illiterate youth live in these two regions. Whereas women are the majority of illiterate adults in all regions, there is no such clear pattern among illiterate youth. In two regions, Central Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, young men are more likely to lack basic reading and writing skills than young women. Even so, 61% of the global number of illiterate youth are female.

More detailed statistics and analysis are available from the the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, including a page with an interactive world map with adult and youth literacy rates, a fact sheet on adult and youth literacy, an infographic for International Literacy Day 2013, and a report on national, regional and global trends in adult and youth literacy between 1985 and 2015.

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Adult and youth literacy in 2010

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) released new literacy data in April 2012, with updated estimates of adult and youth literacy. In 2010, the latest year with data, 84% of the global population 15 years and older were estimated to be able to read and write (see Table 1). At the regional level, literacy rates are highest in Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean. In these regions at least 9 out of 10 adults are literate. Literacy rates can be assumed to be as high in North America and Western Europe but not enough countries in that region collect literacy data to allow the calculation of a regional average. By contrast, adult literacy rates are significantly lower in the Arab States (75%), and in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (63% in both regions). Women are considerably less likely to be literate than men in the Arab States, East Asia and the Pacific, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Globally, the female adult literacy rate was estimated to be 80% in 2010, compared to a literacy rate of 89% for men. As a consequence, nearly two thirds (497 million) of the adult illiterate population in 2010 (775 million) were women.

Table 1: Adult and youth literacy rate, 2010
Region Adult literacy rate (%) Youth literacy rate (%)
Total Male Female Total Male Female
Arab States 74.7 83.3 65.7 89.1 92.4 85.6
Central Asia 99.5 99.6 99.4 99.7 99.6 99.8
Central and Eastern Europe 97.9 99.0 97.0 99.1 99.3 98.9
East Asia and the Pacific 94.2 96.7 91.6 98.8 98.9 98.7
Latin America and the Caribbean 91.4 92.1 90.7 97.2 97.0 97.4
North America and Western Europe - - - - - -
South and West Asia 62.7 74.0 51.8 80.5 86.6 74.7
Sub-Saharan Africa 62.6 71.0 54.2 71.8 76.4 66.8
World 84.1 88.6 79.7 89.6 92.2 87.1
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, April 2012

The disparities between regions with high and low literacy rates are readily apparent from the map in Figure 1, which displays the average literacy rate in the seven Education for All (EFA) regions with data listed in Table 1. For a description of the regional groupings, please refer to a past article about the EFA regions on this website.

Figure 1: Regional adult literacy rate, 2010

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, April 2012. - Click image to enlarge.

Youth literacy rates, for the population 15 to 24 years of age, are higher than adult literacy rates in all regions as a result of improved access to education among younger generations. Globally, 90% of all youth are able to read and write. Central Asia, Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia and the Pacific, and Latin America and the Caribbean have reached or are approaching universal literacy among their young population. The same can be assumed for North America and Western Europe, but no regional average is available from the UIS (see Table 1 and Figure 2). The disparity in literacy rates between men and women is generally smaller among the population 15 to 24 years than among the population 15 years and older. Yet, in the Arab States, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, young women remain less likely to be able to read and write than young men. The global youth literacy rate in 2010 was 92% for men and 87% for women.

Figure 2: Regional youth literacy rate, 2010

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, April 2012. - Click image to enlarge.

The regional averages can conceal large differences between countries within a region. This is particularly true for the adult literacy rate in the Arab States, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa (see Figure 3). In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, the adult literacy rate is below 30% in Burkina Faso and Niger - the countries with the least literate population worldwide - and above 90% in Equatorial Guinea, Seychelles, and Zimbabwe.

Figure 3: Adult literacy rate, 2010

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, April 2012. - Click image to enlarge.

Disparities between countries within a region can also be observed for the youth literacy rate, but to a lesser degree than for the adult literacy rate (see Figure 4). Similar to the adult literacy rate, the greatest disparities exist in sub-Saharan Africa, where youth literacy rates range from 37% in Niger to 99% in the Seychelles and Zimbabwe.

Figure 4: Youth literacy rate, 2010

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, April 2012. - Click image to enlarge.

To make it easier to explore its literacy data, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics has created an interactive visualization that combines a map showing adult and youth literacy rates, a graph with literacy rates by sex, and a scatter plot with the correlation between GDP per capita and literacy. A screenshot of the visualization is shown in Figure 5. The full visualization is available on the website of the UIS. Literacy data are also contained in the recently published World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education by UNESCO.

Figure 5: UIS data visualization with adult and youth literacy rate, 2010

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, May 2012. - Click image to enlarge.

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World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education

Cover of the UNESCO gender atlas

UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) have published a new World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education that illustrates the participation of girls and boys in pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary education. The data show that there has been significant progress towards gender parity since the 1970s. Two thirds of all countries have reached gender parity in primary education but at the secondary level of education girls are still lagging behind. In some countries, girls have the advantage with regard to access to and completion of education. At the tertiary level, female students outnumber male students in many high-income countries.

The atlas is divided into eight chapters that contain a total of 28 maps and close to 100 charts and tables:

  1. Increased worldwide demand for quality schooling
  2. Girls’ right to education
  3. Enrolment and gender trends: primary education
  4. Enrolment and gender trends: secondary education
  5. Enrolment and gender trends: tertiary education
  6. Trends in school-life expectancy
  7. Gender trends: adult and youth literacy
  8. How policies affect gender equality in education

An excerpt from Chapter 7 on literacy is shown below. The map (please click the image for a larger view) visualizes adult literacy rates from the database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Among countries with data, literacy rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The highest adult literacy rates are observed in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. For many developed countries, the adult literacy rate is unknown because these countries have achieved universal primary education and no longer report data on the traditional literate-illiterate dichotomy, focusing instead on the more narrowly defined concept of functional literacy.

The atlas is available in English, French and Spanish. In addition, UNESCO and UIS plan to launch an online e-atlas with interactive maps.

Excerpt from World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education: Map with adult literacy rates
World map with adult literacy rates
Source: UNESCO, 2012, World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education, pages 92-93. - Click image to enlarge.

Reference

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Adult and youth literacy in 2009

8 September was International Literacy Day. On this occasion, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) released a fact sheet with estimates of adult and youth literacy in 2009, the most recent year with data.

The global adult literacy rate, for the population 15 years and older, was 83.7% in 2009, compared to 83.4% in 2008. The adult illiterate population fell from 796.2 million in 2008 to 793.1 million in 2009. 64.1% of the adult illiterate population were women. Adult literacy rates are lowest in sub-Saharan African and in South and West Asia (see Figure 1). In 11 countries, less than half of the adult population were able to read and write: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Haiti, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone.

Figure 1: Adult literacy rate, 2009
World map with adult literacy rates in 2009
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2011

Youth literacy rates - for the population 15 to 24 years - are generally higher than adult literacy rates, due to increased school attendance rates among younger generations. The global youth literacy rate was 89.3% in 2009, compared to 89.0% in 2008. The youth illiterate population fell from 130.6 million in 2008 to 127.3 million in 2009. Youth literacy rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa (see Figure 2) and the five countries worldwide with youth literacy rates below 50% are from this region: Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Mali and Niger.

Figure 2: Youth literacy rate, 2009
World map with youth literacy rates in 2009
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 2011

Reference

  • UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2011. Adult and youth literacy. UIS fact sheet no. 16, September. Montreal: UIS. (Download in PDF format, 350 KB)

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EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011

Cover of the EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011The Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2011 was released by UNESCO on 1 March 2011. This year's edition of this annual report has the title The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education. The report documents the impact of violent conflict on education and the long-lasting negative effects on educational attainment and literacy.

Today, 28 million or over 40 percent of all children out of school (67 million worldwide) live in countries affected by conflict, although these countries are home to only 116 million or 18 percent of the global population of primary school age (653 million) (see Figure 1). (Only out-of-school children in low and lower-middle income conflict-affected countries were counted to arrive at the total of 28 million. In addition, for large countries like India, Indonesia, Nigeria and Pakistan, only children living in conflict-affected areas were included in the 28 million children affected by conflict.) In conflict areas, the out-of-school rate is around 24 percent, compared to 7 percent in other parts of the world. Children affected by armed conflict are thus more than three times as likely to be out of school as other children.

Conflict-affected countries also have some of the lowest levels of literacy. In these countries, only 79 percent of youth between 15 and 24 years and 69 percent of adults are literate, compared to 93 percent of youth and 85 percent of adults in other countries.

War does not only destroy lives and schools, it also diverts resources from education to military spending. The Global Monitoring Report documents how lack of access to education or exposure to the wrong kind of education can contribute to persistent inequality, prejudice and renewed armed conflict, a vicious cycle that is difficult to break.

Lastly, the Global Monitoring Report 2011 examines the role of development assistance in conflict-affected countries and argues for increased and more effective aid for the education sector.

Figure 1: Population of primary school age and children out of school in countries affected and not affected by armed conflict, 2008
Pie chart with data on children in conflict and non-conflict countries
Source: UNESCO 2011, pages 132, 308, 309; author's calculations.

Reference
  • UNESCO. 2011. EFA Global Monitoring Report 2011: The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education. Paris: UNESCO. (Download in PDF format, 6.4 MB)
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Trends in adult literacy, 1990-2008

8 September is International Literacy Day, which was first celebrated in 1966. New estimates of adult and youth literacy by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) show that the percentage of literate persons continues to grow worldwide. Even so, in 2008, 796 million adults aged 15 years or older - 17% of all adults worldwide - still lacked basic reading and writing skills and 64% of them were women (see UIS fact sheet on adult and youth literacy). By comparison, 24% of all adults were illiterate in 1990.

Figure 1 displays how the adult literacy rate and the associated gender parity index (GPI) have evolved between 1990 and 2008 for the 10 Millennium Development Goal regions and for the world as a whole. The gender parity index is the ratio of the female over the male literacy rate. For example, the female and male literacy rate in 2008 - 78.9% and 88.2%, respectively - yield a GPI of 0.9 (see Table 1). A GPI between 0.97 and 1.03 is usually considered gender parity. At GPI values below 1, women are disadvantaged and at GPI values above 1, men are disadvantaged. If a country or region reaches universal literacy, with male and female literacy rates of 100%, the GPI must be 1 by definition. This can be seen in the developed regions and in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), both of which are near universal literacy with a GPI of 1.

Figure 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
Graph with trends in adult literacy and gender parity from 1990 to 2008
Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2010.

At the global level, both the adult literacy rate and gender parity improved over the past 20 years. The literacy rate grew from 76% in 1990 to 83% in 2008 and the GPI from 0.84 to 0.90 (see Table 1). Progress was especially strong in Northern Africa, where the adult literacy rate increased by 20%, and in Eastern and Southern Asia, which saw an increase of 15%. In Northern Africa and Southern Asia less than half of all adults were literate in 1990, less than in any other region. In 2008, the lowest literacy rates were observed in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with 62% and 63%, respectively. However, even sub-Saharan Africa managed to increase the share of adults with basic reading and writing skills by 9% between 1990 and 2008. In the remaining regions, the increase in the adult literacy rate over the past two decades was as follows: Western Asia 11%; South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean 7%; Oceania 4%; CIS 1%; and the developed regions 0.3%. The rate of increase in the developed regions and in the CIS countries was neglible because both regions had already reached near-universal adult literacy in 1990. Literacy rates are also high in Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean; in all three regions more than 9 out of 10 adults are able to read and write.

Gender parity also improved in all MDG regions, with Northern Africa again showing the biggest increase, from 0.57 in 1990 to 0.76 in 2008, followed by Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, where the GPI increased by 0.14 over the same period. In spite of this increase, Southern Asia continues to exhibit relatively high gender disparity in adult literacy, with a GPI of 0.70. The UIS reports similar disparities for sub-Saharan Africa (0.75) and Northern Africa (0.76). In the other regions the GPI for adult literacy was as follows in 2008: Western Asia 0.84, Oceania 0.89, Eastern Asia 0.94, South-Eastern Asia 0.95, and CIS and the developed regions 1.00.

Table 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
MDG region Year Adult literacy rate (%)
Total Male Female GPI
Developed regions 1990 98.7 99.0 98.4 0.99

2008 99.0 99.2 98.9 1.00
Commonwealth of Independent States 1990 98.1 99.4 97.1 0.98

2008 99.5 99.7 99.4 1.00
Eastern Asia 1990 78.9 87.7 69.7 0.80

2008 93.8 96.8 90.7 0.94
South-Eastern Asia 1990 84.8 90.0 80.0 0.89

2008 91.9 94.5 89.5 0.95
Southern Asia 1990 47.3 60.1 33.5 0.56

2008 61.9 73.2 50.9 0.70
Western Asia 1990 73.8 84.2 62.6 0.74

2008 84.5 91.5 76.9 0.84
Northern Africa 1990 47.8 60.8 34.6 0.57

2008 67.3 76.7 58.1 0.76
Sub-Saharan Africa 1990 53.1 63.7 43.1 0.68

2008 62.5 71.6 53.6 0.75
Latin America and the Caribbean 1990 84.4 85.9 82.8 0.96

2008 91.0 91.9 90.3 0.98
Oceania 1990 62.9 68.9 56.5 0.82

2008 66.4 70.2 62.6 0.89
World 1990 75.7 82.2 69.2 0.84

2008 83.4 88.2 78.9 0.90
Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2010.

National and regional literacy rates can be obtained from the UIS Data Centre. From the main Data Centre page at stats.uis.unesco.org, click on Predefined Tables and then Literacy. National literacy rates are available for the years 1975 to 2008. Regional and global literacy rates are presented by census decade, from 1985-1994 to 2005-2008.

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Adult literacy in 2007

The release of new literacy data by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) in May 2008 provides an opportunity to update an article on adult literacy rates that was published on this site in July 2007. The adult literacy rate is the share of literate persons in the population aged 15 years and older. Compared to the previous analysis, literacy data for more countries and for more recent years is available. An article on literacy data from the UIS provides additional information on the latest UIS database.

Before the update of May, the UIS database contained adult literacy rates for 136 countries and territories. For 10 countries, the most recent data was from 2005, for 30 countries from 2004, and for 5 countries from 2003. The remaining countries had data from 2002 or earlier years.

The UIS Data Centre now offers the adult literacy rate for 145 countries and territories. For 115 countries, data from 2007 is available. The map below displays the adult literacy rate for all countries with data.

Adult literacy rates by country, 2007
World map with adult literacy rates by country in 2007
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, May 2008

The unweighted mean of the adult literacy rate is 81.2 percent. In 71 countries - including most of Eastern Europe, East and Southeast Asia, and Latin America - 90 percent or more of the adult population can read and write. The highest adult literacy rate, 99.8 percent, is reported for Cuba, Estonia and Latvia. Most countries without data are in the group of industrialized countries, where literacy rates are also likely to be above 90 percent. In 23 countries, the adult literacy rate is between 80 and 90 percent.

At the other extreme are eight countries with literacy rates below 40 percent: Mali (23.3), Chad (25.7), Afghanistan (28.0), Burkina Faso (28.7), Guinea (29.5), Niger (30.4), Ethiopia (35.9), and Sierra Leone (38.1). Another 16 countries have literacy rates between 40 and 60 percent: Benin (40.5), Senegal (42.6), Mozambique (44.4), Central African Republic (48.6), Cote d'Ivoire (48.7), Togo (53.2), Bangladesh (53.5), Pakistan (54.9), Liberia (55.5), Morocco (55.6), Bhutan (55.6), Mauritania (55.8), Nepal (56.5), Papua New Guinea (57.8), Yemen (58.9), and Burundi (59.3). Almost all of these countries are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Finally, the world's two largest countries in terms of population have very different literacy rates. In China, the adult literacy rate is 93.3 percent. In India, only 66 percent of the adult population can read and write.

The complete dataset with adult and youth literacy rates is available at the UIS Data Centre.

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Literacy data from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics

In May 2008, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) added new literacy data for many countries to its database at the UIS Data Centre. In total, 208 countries and territories are covered by the database. The adult literacy rate - the share of the population aged 15 years and above that can read and write - is available for 145 countries. For 115 countries, the most recent literacy data is from 2007. Historical data is also provided, going back as far as 1975, to allow the analysis of national trends in literacy.

The previous UIS database from 2007 listed the adult literacy rates for 136 countries and territories for years between 1985 and 2005. For 10 countries, the most recent data was from 2005, for 30 countries from 2004, and for 5 countries from 2003.

The graph below describes the availability of data on adult literacy in the UIS database as of late May 2008.
  • The blue bars indicate the number of countries with data on adult literacy per year between 1975 and 2007. For each country, the adult literacy rate may be available in more than one year. The number of countries with data from a particular year is shown at the bottom of the bars, along the horizontal axis. For example, 115 countries have literacy data from 2007 and 36 countries have data from 2000.
  • The brown bars show the number of countries with adult literacy rates from the current year or the previous 4 years. For example, the bar for the year 2007 indicates that 117 countries have literacy data from any year between 2003 and 2007.
  • The beige bars show the cumulative number of countries with literacy data from any year since 1975. For example, in 2007, the adult literacy rate is available for a total of 145 countries and territories. The difference between the beige and brown bars in 2007 is the number of countries with the most recent literacy data from a year before 2003. The difference between the beige and blue bars in 2007 is the number of countries with the most recent data from a year before 2007.
Data on adult literacy from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 1975-2007
Bar chart showing availability of data on adult literacy from 1975 to 2007
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, May 2008

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Adult literacy in sub-Saharan Africa

Literacy data published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) in 2007 shows that the lowest adult literacy rates are observed in Africa and South Asia. In some countries, fewer than three out of ten adults can read and write. UIS provides national literacy data for two age groups: youths aged 15 to 24 years, and adults aged 15 years and older. A more detailed analysis of literacy is possible with data from household surveys.

Most Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) collect data on literacy for persons between 15 and 49 years. For male household members, literacy data is sometimes collected up to an age of 54, 59, or 64 years. To assess the degree of literacy, respondents to the survey are asked to read a card with a simple sentence. If a respondent can read the whole sentence, he or she is counted as literate, in accordance with UNESCO's definition of literacy as "the ability to read and write, with understanding, a short simple sentence about one’s everyday life". Recent Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) by UNICEF collect data on literacy with the same method, but only for female household members between 15 and 49 years. MICS surveys are therefore not covered by the analysis that follows.

This article examines data from eight DHS surveys that were carried out in sub-Saharan Africa between 2003 and 2006. The survey data is from Benin (2006), Burkina Faso (2003), Cameroon (2004), Lesotho (2004-05), Niger (2006), Nigeria (2003), Uganda (2006), and Zimbabwe (2005-06). The data can be used to calculate overall literacy rates and also to examine trends over time by comparing literacy rates in different age groups.

The following table lists literacy rates for the male, female, and total population between 15 and 49 years of age. Zimbabwe (85%) and Lesotho (79%) are the countries with the highest literacy rates, followed by Cameroon (63%), Uganda (58%), and Nigeria (55%). In Benin (33%), Burkina Faso (18%), and Niger (13%), adult literacy rates are much lower. In seven of the eight countries there is a large difference between male and female literacy rates. In Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger, Nigeria, and Uganda, more men than women are literate, with a gender gap ranging from 12% to 26%. In Lesotho, the literacy rate of women is 21% greater than the literacy rate of men. In Zimbabwe, the difference between the male and female literacy rate is only 6%.

Adult literacy rate (%), population 15-49 years
Country
 Male Female Total
Benin 45.1 21.8 32.6
Burkina Faso 24.3 11.9 17.6
Cameroon 70.6 54.8 62.5
Lesotho 68.8 90.1 79.4
Niger 20.9 7.5 13.2
Nigeria 68.4 42.8 54.9
Uganda 68.6 48.9 58.4
Zimbabwe 87.9 81.5 84.5
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys 2003-2006

For the graph below, the survey respondents were divided into five-year age groups. In all countries, literacy rates among the younger population are higher than among the older population. The literacy rate of the youngest group, 15 to 19 years, can be interpreted as a measure of the coverage and quality of the primary school system during the 1990s, when the members of this age group were of primary school age.

In Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Lesotho, Niger, and Uganda, the difference between the literacy rates of 15- to 19-year-olds and 45- to 49-year-olds ranges from 13% to 18%. These numbers indicate a relatively modest expansion of the education system between the 1960s, when the older age group was of primary school age, and the 1990s. In contrast, in Benin, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, the difference between the literacy rates of 15- to 19-year-olds and 45- to 49-year-olds ranges from 27% to 32%. These three countries were thus more successful in their efforts to increase the number of literate citizens than the other five countries.

In Burkina Faso and Niger, less than one quarter of the population between 15 and 19 years can read and write. However, the case of Benin shows that a large increase in literacy can be achieved within only ten years. In Benin, only 24% of 25- to 29-year-olds are literate but among 15- to 19-years-olds the literacy rate has grown to 53%.

Adult literacy by five-year age group
Graph with adult literacy rates by age in sub-Saharan Africa
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys 2003-2006

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Friedrich Huebler, 10 May 2008, Creative Commons License
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Reported and tested literacy in Nigeria

Household surveys like the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) or the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) collect data on literacy with various methods. One approach is to simply ask respondents whether they can read and write. In an alternative approach, the reading ability is tested by asking respondents to read a sentence from a card. More detailed assessments of literacy, such as the National Assessment of Adult Literacy in the United States, require in-depth questionnaires that are beyond the scope of surveys like the DHS and MICS.

The Nigeria DHS of 2003 collected literacy data with two methods. First, the survey questionnaire contained the question: "Can (name) read and write in any language with understanding?" This question was asked for all household members aged 5 years and older, with two possible answers: yes or no (NPC and ORC Macro 2004: 247). The results of this literacy assessment were described in the article "Adult literacy in Nigeria", published on this site on 5 April 2008.

Second, a randomly selected subsample of women between 15 and 49 years and men between 15 and 59 years were asked to read a card with a simple sentence in their language. If the respondent could not read the whole sentence, the survey staff were asked to probe if the respondent could read any part of the sentence. The result was recorded as one of three options: (1) cannot read at all, (2) able to read only parts of sentence, or (3) able to read whole sentence. If no card in the respondents' language was available, or if the respondent was blind or visually impaired, the result was recorded in a separate category (NPC and ORC Macro 2004: 26-27).

The graph and table below compare the data from the two literacy assessment methods - self-reporting and reading test - for the population aged 15 to 49 years. The self-reported literacy rate, the blue bars in the graph, is the share of respondents that claimed to be able to read and write. The tested literacy rate, the red bars in the graph, is the share of respondents that could read a complete sentence; household members who could only read parts of a sentence were counted as illiterate.

Self-reported and tested literacy in Nigeria, population 15-49 years
Bar graph with self-reported and tested literacy rates in Nigeria
Source: Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003

A comparison of the self-reported and tested literacy rates in Nigeria shows that self-reporting tends to overestimate the degree of literacy in the population. 62 percent of men and women between 15 and 49 years were reported as able to "read and write in any language with understanding". However, the reading test revealed that only 55 percent could read a simple sentence. The difference of 7 percent can be explained by the fact that survey respondents are reluctant to admit that they themselves or other household members, on whose behalf they respond, are unable to read and write. This gap between self-reported and tested literacy can be observed across all groups of respondents: men, women, urban residents, and rural residents. The biggest difference exists in rural areas of Nigeria, were 54 percent of respondents claim to be literate but only 45 percent can in fact read.

Self-reported and tested literacy in Nigeria, population 15-49 years

Self-reported literacy rate (%) Tested literacy rate (%) Difference (%)
Male 74.5 68.4 6.1
Female 50.9 42.8 8.1
Urban 77.8 72.2 5.6
Rural 53.6 45.2 8.4
Total 62.3 54.9 7.4
Source: Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003

References
  • National Population Commission (NPC) [Nigeria] and ORC Macro. 2004. Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003. Calverton, Maryland: National Population Commission and ORC Macro. (Download report, PDF format, 4 MB)
Related articles External linksFriedrich Huebler, 13 April 2008, Creative Commons License
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Adult literacy in Nigeria

The adult literacy rate is the share of literate persons in the population aged 15 years and older. In Nigeria, a Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) collected data on literacy that can be disaggregated by age, gender, area of residence, and other characteristics. In the survey, conducted in 2003, literacy is defined as the ability to "read and write in any language with understanding" (NPC and ORC Macro 2004: 247). To collect this data, respondents were only asked whether they are literate, but no reading or writing tests were applied. A smaller group of respondents, all women aged 15-49 years and one third of men aged 15-59 years, were asked to read a simple sentence in any of the major language groups of Nigeria (NPC and ORC Macro 2004: 26-27). The literacy rates obtained from this separate reading test were not considered for the analysis that follows, but they are lower than the self-reported literacy rates that cover all survey respondents aged 5 years and older. A separate article on this site describes the difference between self-reported and tested literacy in Nigeria in more detail.

In Nigeria, 55% of the population aged 15 years and older can read and write according to the findings of the DHS. More men (67%) than women (44%) are literate, and the literacy rate is higher in urban (71%) than in rural areas (47%).

Adult literacy rate in Nigeria, 2003
Category
 Literacy rate (%)
Male 67.3
Female 43.7
Urban 70.9
Rural 46.8
Total 55.3
Source: Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003

Although almost half of all adult Nigerians cannot read and write, analysis of the survey data by age reveals a steady increase in literacy over the years. Today, more children go to school and learn to read and write than in previous decades. As a result, younger persons are much more likely to be literate than older persons. For the graph below, the survey respondents were divided into 5-year age groups. Among persons aged 15 to 19 years - those who were of primary school age in the 1990s - the literacy rate is 70%. Among persons 80 years or older, only 13% are literate.

A similar rate of increase in the literacy rate can be observed for men, women, urban residents, and rural residents. Among women 80 years or older, only 3% can read and write, compared to 23% of all men in the same age group. Among 15- to 19-year-olds, the female literacy rate is 63% and the male literacy rate 79%. While literacy rates have increased steadily for men and women, there continues to be a large gender gap. A similar gap exists between residents of urban and rural areas.

Adult literacy rate in Nigeria by age, gender and area of residence, 2003
Graph with literacy rates by age, gender and area of residence, Nigeria 2003
Source: Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003

References
  • National Population Commission (NPC) [Nigeria] and ORC Macro. 2004. Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey 2003. Calverton, Maryland: National Population Commission and ORC Macro. (Download report, PDF format, 4 MB)
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External links

Friedrich Huebler, 5 April 2008 (edited 13 April 2008), Creative Commons License
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EFA Global Monitoring Report 2008

Cover of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2008 by UNESCOOn 29 November 2007, UNESCO released the 2008 edition of the annual Education for All Global Monitoring Report, with the title Education for All by 2015: Will we make it? The report, now in its sixth edition, monitors progress towards the six Education for All goals adopted at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal in 2000:
  1. Expand and improve early childhood care and education.
  2. Provide free and compulsory universal primary education by 2015.
  3. Equitable access to learning and life-skills programs.
  4. Achieve a 50% improvement in adult literacy rates.
  5. Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and at all levels by 2015.
  6. Improve all aspects of the quality of education.
Some highlights of the 2008 report are:
  • Between 1999 and 2005, primary school enrollment rose from 647 million to 688 million worldwide. The rate of increase was particularly high in Sub-Saharan Africa and in South and West Asia. As a result, the global number of children out of school fell from 96 million in 1999 to 72 million in 2005.
  • Projections based on current trends show that more than 50 countries will not achieve universal primary education by 2015.
  • One third of all countries missed the goal of gender parity in primary education by 2005. Two thirds of all countries missed the goal of gender parity in secondary education. According to projections, more than 90 countries will not reach gender parity in primary and secondary education by 2015.
  • Fourteen countries abolished primary school fees since 2000 but the cost of schooling remains an obstacle for millions of children.
  • The emphasis by the international community on primary education has come at the expense of early childhood education and literacy programs for youth and adults.
  • One in five adults lacks basic literacy skills. Women account for two thirds of all illiterate adults worldwide. Three quarters of all countries for which projections were calculated will miss the goal of halving adult illiteracy rates by 2015.
The EFA Global Monitoring Report offers a great amount of data and statistical analysis. An annex contains more than 140 pages of statistical tables with national, regional and global data up to the year 2005.

References
  • UNESCO. 2007. Education for all by 2015: Will we make it? - EFA global monitoring report 2008. Paris: UNESCO. (Download in PDF format, 11.8 MB)
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Friedrich Huebler, 3 December 2007 (edited 8 December 2008), Creative Commons License
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