This chart presents global literacy rates across four age groups - adults, youth, working-age adults, and elderly - broken down by sex, based on UNESCO data for 2016.

About: Global Literacy Rate by Age Group and Sex (2016)

Overview of the data behind this chart

This chart presents global literacy rates across four age groups - adults, youth, working-age adults, and elderly - broken down by sex, based on UNESCO data for 2016.

AI Insight

Youth (aged 15-24) consistently show the highest literacy rates across all gender categories, reflecting improved access to education over time. The elderly population (65+) has the lowest literacy rates, with women at 73% compared to men at 83%, highlighting historical gender inequalities in education access. The gender parity index of 0.92 for adults overall indicates women remain measurably behind men in literacy globally, while the youth GPI of 0.96 signals that the gap is narrowing significantly with younger generations - a promising trend for future parity.

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

🏆

Youth (15-24) - Men leads with 93 in 2016.

📊

Average value in 2016: 85 · median: 86.

↔️

Gap in 2016: Youth (15-24) - Men is 1.3× larger than Elderly (65+) - Women.

Chart Controls Customize your visualization

Chart Type

Bar

H-bar

Line

Area

Table

Filter by Categories

Additional Data

Global Literacy Rate by Age Group and Sex (2016)

Data Insights Below

Data Insights

Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart

Admin

⬡

Data Points

12 categories · 1 year

↑

Top Value

Youth (15-24) - Men

Literacy Rate (%) · 2016

◈

Metrics

Literacy Rate (%)

◷

Period

2016

Single year snapshot

Category Rankings

Literacy Rate (%) · 2016

#	Category	2016
🥇	Youth (15-24) - Men	93
🥈	Youth (15-24) - Both Sexes	91
🥉	Adults (15+) - Men	90
4	Youth (15-24) - Women	90
5	Aged 25-64 - Men	90
6	Adults (15+) - Both Sexes	86
7	Aged 25-64 - Both Sexes	86
8	Adults (15+) - Women	83
9	Elderly (65+) - Men	83
10	Aged 25-64 - Women	82
11	Elderly (65+) - Both Sexes	78
12	Elderly (65+) - Women	73

Statistical Summary — Literacy Rate (%) · 2016

Maximum

Minimum

Average

Median

What This Data Shows

Auto-generated trend summaries per category

→

Adults (15+) - Both Sexes

Recorded 86 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Adults (15+) - Men

Recorded 90 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Adults (15+) - Women

Recorded 83 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Youth (15-24) - Both Sexes

Recorded 91 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Youth (15-24) - Men

Recorded 93 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Youth (15-24) - Women

Recorded 90 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Aged 25-64 - Both Sexes

Recorded 86 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Aged 25-64 - Men

Recorded 90 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Aged 25-64 - Women

Recorded 82 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Elderly (65+) - Both Sexes

Recorded 78 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Elderly (65+) - Men

Recorded 83 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

→

Elderly (65+) - Women

Recorded 73 Literacy Rate (%) in 2016.

Source

Full Data Table

12 records across 1 year

12 sourced

Category	Metric	2016
Adults (15+) - Both Sexes	Literacy Rate (%)	86
Adults (15+) - Men	Literacy Rate (%)	90
Adults (15+) - Women	Literacy Rate (%)	83
Youth (15-24) - Both Sexes	Literacy Rate (%)	91
Youth (15-24) - Men	Literacy Rate (%)	93
Youth (15-24) - Women	Literacy Rate (%)	90
Aged 25-64 - Both Sexes	Literacy Rate (%)	86
Aged 25-64 - Men	Literacy Rate (%)	90
Aged 25-64 - Women	Literacy Rate (%)	82
Elderly (65+) - Both Sexes	Literacy Rate (%)	78
Elderly (65+) - Men	Literacy Rate (%)	83
Elderly (65+) - Women	Literacy Rate (%)	73