South Asia - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in South Asia was 73.65 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 45 years was 73.65 in 2020, while its lowest value was 36.25 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 36.25
1976 36.26
1977 36.92
1978 37.56
1979 38.19
1980 38.81
1981 38.80
1982 40.03
1983 40.68
1984 41.32
1985 41.97
1986 42.61
1987 43.26
1988 44.00
1989 44.75
1990 45.47
1991 45.86
1992 47.15
1993 48.12
1994 48.90
1995 49.68
1996 50.48
1997 51.28
1998 56.16
1999 56.92
2000 57.69
2001 58.13
2002 59.21
2003 60.10
2004 60.87
2005 60.64
2006 60.81
2007 61.71
2008 63.64
2009 64.34
2010 66.02
2011 66.51
2012 67.27
2013 68.01
2014 68.73
2015 69.66
2016 71.00
2017 71.70
2018 72.24
2019 72.95
2020 73.65

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