Adult Literacy Rate Progress by Region: 1990 vs 2016

About This Dataset

This chart compares adult literacy rates across world regions between 1990 and 2016, illustrating the scale of progress made over 26 years based on UNESCO data.

✨ AI Insight

Southern Asia made the most dramatic improvement in adult literacy between 1990 and 2016, rising from 46% to 72% - a gain of 26 percentage points. Northern Africa and Western Asia increased by 17 points (64% to 81%), while Eastern and South-Eastern Asia grew from 82% to 96%. Sub-Saharan Africa, despite improving from 52% to 65%, still has the lowest regional adult literacy rate in 2016. Latin America and the Caribbean already had a high base in 1990 at 85%, reaching 94% by 2016. Regions with the lowest starting points made proportionally larger gains, reflecting expanded school access, though significant gaps remain in Africa and Southern Asia.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Key Findings

Auto-computed highlights from this dataset

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Eastern and South-Eastern Asia - 2016 leads with 96 in All Time.

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Average value in All Time: 74 · median: 77.

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Gap in All Time: Eastern and South-Eastern Asia - 2016 is 2.1× larger than Southern Asia - 1990.