Global Illiterate Population by Age Group and Sex (2016)
About This Dataset
Global Illiterate Population by Age Group and Sex (2016)
This chart shows the total number of illiterate people globally across four age groups, broken down by sex, based on UNESCO data for 2016. All values are in millions.
Analysis
Adults (15+) - Both Sexes (750), Aged 25-64 - Both Sexes (507) and Adults (15+) - Women (473) take the top three in Illiterate Population (Millions) in 2016. Values run from 750 at the top to 44 at the bottom, a spread of 706. First and second are separated by 243, so the leader sits inside the field rather than apart from it. Only 3 of the 12 reach even half the leader's figure (375 or more).
Source:
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Key Findings
🏆
Adults (15+) - Both Sexes leads in Illiterate Population (Millions) with 750 in 2016.
📊
Average Illiterate Population (Millions) in 2016: 250 · median: 164.
↔️
Gap in 2016: Adults (15+) - Both Sexes is 17× larger than Youth (15-24) - Men.
Data Insights
Numbers, trends & sources behind this chart
Methodology & source
- Data source
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics
- Coverage
- 12 entities · 2016 · 12 observations
- Measure
- Illiterate Population (Millions)
- Last updated
- 6 September 2026
- Compiled by
- The ANYSTAT team, from the source above
How the figures are calculated
- Values are shown as reported by the source. Nothing is rescaled, rebased or converted — the only changes are thousand separators and decimals shown to two places.
- Entities are ranked highest-first on their value in 2016.
Data Sources & References
All external sources cited in this dataset
Related Charts
More statistics on similar topics
Related
2016
99.9
Central Asia - Both Sexes (Youth R...
View Chart
2 months ago
Related
2016
100.0
Europe and Northern America - Yout...
View Chart
2 months ago
Related
All Time
96.0
Eastern and South-Eastern Asia - 2...
View Chart
2 months ago