International Literacy Day - 8 September 2002
Journée internationale de l'alphabétisation

NEW! UIS Illiteracy Estimates and Projections
Selected graphs and maps
NOUVEAU! Estimations et projections sur l'analphabétisme
Graphiques et cartes seléctionnés

LATEST ILLITERACY FIGURES (in excel format):


 ILLITERACY WORLD MAPS AND GRAPHS):

2000 Illiteracy rates - World
A global overview of illiteracy rates.
>>Français    >>Espagnol

2000 Illiteracy rates - World regions by gender
Gender breakdown of illiteracy rates by world region
>>Français    >>Espagnol

 

2000 Illiteracy rates - Arab States and North Africa
Gender breakdown of illiteracy rates of selected countries in the Arab States and North Africa

 

2000 Illiteracy rates - East Asia and the Pacific
2000 Illiteracy rates - East Asia and the Pacific Gender breakdown of illiteracy rates of selected countries in East Asia and the Pacific

 

2000 Illiteracy rates - Latin America and the Caribbean
Gender breakdown of illiteracy rates of selected countries in Latin America and the Caribbean
>> Espagnol

 

2000 Illiteracy rates - South and West Asia
Gender breakdown of illiteracy rates of selected countries in South and West Asia

 

2000 Illiteracy rates - Sub-Saharan Africa
Gender breakdown of illiteracy rates of selected countries in sub-Saharan Africa.
>> Français

 

2015 Illiteracy rates - World
A global overview of estimated illiteracy rates for the year 2015
>> Français    >>Espagnol

 

ABOUT LITERACY ESTIMATES AND PROJECTIONS MADE BY THE UIS

What are the UNESCO literacy estimates?

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics regularly updates and disseminates literacy estimates and projections for more than 100 countries as well as for the world as a whole and by regions and different groups of countries such as the E9, least developed countries, etc. Such literacy estimates and projections are available by gender and age-groups, and for single years between 1970 and 2015.

The UNESCO literacy estimates and projections are essentially based on literacy statistics collected during national population censuses and household surveys. The estimated illiteracy rates are used to derive the estimated illiterate population when multiplied by the population estimates produced by the United Nations Population Division. The methodology used for producing these literacy estimates is summarized in: 'Methodology used in the 1994 estimation and projection of adult illiteracy' published by the Division of Statistics, UNESCO.

What do the UNESCO literacy estimates tell you?

The UNESCO literacy estimates provide basic information on the number and percentage of adults(aged 15 years and older) and youth (aged 15 to 24 years old) who are literate and illiterate. They indicate the dimensions and patterns of illiteracy within each country according to gender and age-groups, so as to aid in policy- and decision-making with regard to measures to be taken to raise the literacy level of the population. These estimates in a way reflect the performance of the national education system, as well as the quality of the human resources within a country in relation to their potential for growth, contribution to development, and quality of life.

It may be noted that since different countries have different social and cultural contexts, different definitions and standards of literacy, different methodologies for collecting and compiling the literacy data, as well as different quality of data collected, one has to be very cautious in comparing the literacy situations among countries and/or regions.

For example, data from some countries may represent the entire country whereas some may represent only part of the country. Some countries may identify literates persons by asking a simple question like "Are you literate or not?" or 'Can you read and write with understanding?' while some other countries may ask more comprehensive questions or administer literacy tests to identify different levels of literacy.

The objectives of producing the literacy estimates are to show the situation as well as trends and patterns in the development of literacy in the given country or region. It essentially attempts to give an order of magnitude with regards to how many persons are below a minimum level of literacy which is the fundamental requirement to human development.

How can one interpret the UNESCO literacy estimates?

Being aware of these constraints and issues, the way to interpret data on illiteracy is to understand the development trends in terms of changes in the size and percentage of illiterate population, their characteristics by gender and age-group, and if possible also their geographical location so as to identify ways and means to extend literacy to them through for example literacy and basic education programmes targeted at their needs.

The UNESCO literacy estimates can help to answer questions like:

  • Which countries have low overall literacy level and apparent difficulties in eradicating illiteracy in recent years?
  • Should such countries focus literacy efforts on particular gender or age-groups ?
  • What emphasis should be given to various solutions to raise the level of literacy: Universalizing primary schooling? Expanding nonformal basic education for out-of-school children and youth? Organizing literacy programmes for illiterate or low literacy adults?

How can we improve the estimates?

Like other projections, all these estimates are greatly relied on the availability and reliability of literacy statistics. Basically the projection model requires data on the number of literates and illiterates by gender and by age-groups which most of the time only national population censuses can provide. The more complete and up-to-date these data are, the more accurate will be the literacy estimates. To have the best result, the UIS literacy statistics team compiles data from all available sources (censuses, surveys, studies) and carefully verifies their relevance and reliability before use as input in producing the estimates.

Nowadays, more and more countries are interested in starting to collect data on different levels of literacy skills according to their own national cultural, linguistic and educational contexts. A good number of developed countries have developed and applied new methodologies to assess the different levels of literacy and life skills.

While some countries are collecting literacy information in more sophisticated and comprehensive manners, many other countries are not able to provide even the most basic information on who are the illiterates. Balancing these issues and at the same time filling the data gaps will be most challenging and one of the major tasks for the UIS literacy statistics team.

Last but not least, building capacity at national level to enable them to produce their own literacy estimates for national as well as sub-national levels will greatly contribute to sound national education policy formulation and implementation.