IBRD only - Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24)

Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) in IBRD only was 96.65 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 45 years was 96.65 in 2020, while its lowest value was 84.79 in 1975.

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:

Year Value
1975 84.79
1976 84.82
1977 84.95
1978 85.30
1979 85.65
1980 85.91
1981 86.17
1982 86.45
1983 86.69
1984 86.97
1985 87.21
1986 87.42
1987 88.01
1988 88.97
1989 89.24
1990 89.51
1991 89.81
1992 90.05
1993 90.24
1994 90.45
1995 90.68
1996 90.88
1997 91.60
1998 92.83
1999 92.94
2000 93.13
2001 93.30
2002 93.54
2003 93.96
2004 94.16
2005 94.84
2006 95.01
2007 95.28
2008 95.63
2009 95.59
2010 95.40
2011 95.55
2012 96.00
2013 96.08
2014 96.35
2015 96.18
2016 96.51
2017 96.60
2018 96.37
2019 96.51
2020 96.65

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