society
Adult literacy
Share of people aged 15+ who can read and write.
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Data insight
Global perspective
The world estimate was 81.4% in 2024, up 0.5% from 2014. Across the longer period from 2004, the global estimate changed by -1.0% (-1.2%). Latest country observations range from 30.6% in Chad (2019) to 100.0% in Uzbekistan (2022), with the middle country observation at 93.7%; observation years may differ. Across the derived regional aggregates, Europe reports 97.7%, while Africa reports 72.7%. Over roughly a decade, Europe changed by -0.3%; Africa changed by +6.3%. Among countries with sufficient history, the largest absolute decade increase was +24.3% in Lesotho, while the largest decrease was -11.4% in Zambia. Coverage includes 160 countries; their latest observation years span 1990-2024, with a median latest year of 2021.
Afghanistan over time
Afghanistan reports 37.3% in 2021. From 2011 to 2021, Afghanistan increased by 5.8 percentage points (18.5%).
Asia and world context
This is 38.6 percentage points below Asia (2021). This is 40.8 percentage points below the world estimate (2021). From 2014 to 2024, Asia decreased by 0.2 percentage points (0.2%). The latest decade changed by −0.2 percentage points, versus −8.8 percentage points in the preceding decade, indicating a smaller absolute movement.
Afghanistan has the 156th-highest latest observation among 160 countries and 45th among 46 countries in Asia. Latest observation years span 1990-2024, so ranks are descriptive rather than perfectly synchronized.
- Regional spread: Europe is at 97.7% (2023), compared with 72.7% in Africa (2024).
- Largest observed decade increase: Lesotho changed by +24.3%.
- Largest observed decade decrease: Zambia changed by -11.4%.
- Coverage: 160 countries; the median latest observation is 2021, with latest country observations spanning 1990-2024.
Source
World Bank
Source series SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. World and continent values are derived from available countries using population-weighted averages.