{"id": 1204893, "name": "Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)", "unit": "% of people ages 15 and above", "createdAt": "2026-03-01T08:24:09.000Z", "updatedAt": "2026-03-01T08:24:09.000Z", "coverage": "", "timespan": "1970-2025", "datasetId": 7396, "shortUnit": "%", "columnOrder": 0, "shortName": "se_adt_litr_zs", "catalogPath": "grapher/worldbank_wdi/2026-02-27/wdi/wdi#se_adt_litr_zs", "descriptionFromProducer": "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.\n\n### Limitations and exceptions:\nIn 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.\n\n### Statistical concept and methodology:\nLiteracy 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.\n\nData 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.", "type": "float", "datasetName": "World Development Indicators", "updatePeriodDays": 365, "datasetVersion": "2026-02-27", "nonRedistributable": false, "display": {"unit": "% of people ages 15 and above", "shortUnit": "%"}, "schemaVersion": 2, "presentation": {}, "dimensions": {"years": {"values": [{"id": 1979}, {"id": 2011}, {"id": 2015}, {"id": 2020}, {"id": 2021}, {"id": 2001}, {"id": 2008}, {"id": 2012}, {"id": 2017}, {"id": 2023}, {"id": 1987}, {"id": 2002}, {"id": 2006}, {"id": 1980}, {"id": 2014}, {"id": 1991}, {"id": 1989}, {"id": 2016}, {"id": 2022}, {"id": 2000}, {"id": 2010}, {"id": 1999}, {"id": 2007}, {"id": 2009}, {"id": 2013}, {"id": 2019}, {"id": 1981}, {"id": 2024}, {"id": 2018}, {"id": 1970}, {"id": 1992}, {"id": 2005}, {"id": 1976}, {"id": 2003}, {"id": 2004}, {"id": 1975}, {"id": 1996}, {"id": 1990}, {"id": 1998}, {"id": 1988}, {"id": 1993}, {"id": 1982}, {"id": 1984}, {"id": 1977}, {"id": 1978}, {"id": 1983}, {"id": 1985}, {"id": 1986}, {"id": 1994}, {"id": 1995}, {"id": 1997}, {"id": 1974}, {"id": 2025}, {"id": 1973}]}, "entities": {"values": [{"id": 15, "name": "Afghanistan", "code": "AFG"}, {"id": 16, "name": "Albania", "code": "ALB"}, {"id": 17, "name": "Algeria", "code": "DZA"}, {"id": 246, "name": "American Samoa", "code": "ASM"}, {"id": 19, "name": "Angola", "code": "AGO"}, {"id": 20, "name": "Antigua and Barbuda", "code": "ATG"}, {"id": 21, "name": "Argentina", "code": "ARG"}, {"id": 22, "name": "Armenia", "code": "ARM"}, {"id": 219, "name": "Aruba", "code": "ABW"}, {"id": 25, "name": "Azerbaijan", "code": "AZE"}, {"id": 27, "name": "Bahrain", "code": "BHR"}, {"id": 28, "name": "Bangladesh", "code": "BGD"}, {"id": 29, "name": "Barbados", "code": "BRB"}, {"id": 30, "name": "Belarus", "code": "BLR"}, {"id": 31, "name": "Belize", "code": "BLZ"}, {"id": 32, "name": "Benin", "code": "BEN"}, {"id": 33, "name": "Bhutan", "code": "BTN"}, {"id": 34, "name": "Bolivia", "code": "BOL"}, {"id": 35, "name": "Bosnia and Herzegovina", "code": "BIH"}, {"id": 36, "name": "Botswana", "code": "BWA"}, {"id": 37, "name": "Brazil", "code": "BRA"}, {"id": 38, "name": "Brunei", "code": "BRN"}, {"id": 39, "name": "Bulgaria", "code": "BGR"}, {"id": 40, "name": "Burkina Faso", "code": "BFA"}, {"id": 41, "name": "Burundi", "code": "BDI"}, {"id": 42, "name": "Cambodia", "code": "KHM"}, {"id": 43, "name": "Cameroon", "code": "CMR"}, {"id": 45, "name": "Cape Verde", "code": "CPV"}, {"id": 197, "name": "Cayman Islands", "code": "CYM"}, {"id": 174, "name": "Central African Republic", "code": "CAF"}, {"id": 173, "name": "Chad", "code": "TCD"}, {"id": 172, "name": "Chile", "code": "CHL"}, {"id": 171, "name": "China", "code": "CHN"}, {"id": 170, "name": "Colombia", "code": "COL"}, {"id": 169, "name": "Comoros", "code": "COM"}, {"id": 168, "name": "Congo", "code": "COG"}, {"id": 166, "name": "Costa Rica", "code": "CRI"}, {"id": 143, "name": "Cote d'Ivoire", "code": "CIV"}, {"id": 165, "name": "Croatia", "code": "HRV"}, {"id": 164, "name": "Cuba", "code": "CUB"}, {"id": 163, "name": "Cyprus", "code": "CYP"}, {"id": 167, "name": "Democratic Republic of Congo", "code": "COD"}, {"id": 160, "name": "Dominican Republic", "code": "DOM"}, {"id": 349172, "name": "East Asia and Pacific (WB)", "code": "WB_EAP"}, {"id": 225, "name": "East Timor", "code": "TLS"}, {"id": 201, "name": "Ecuador", "code": "ECU"}, {"id": 65, "name": "Egypt", "code": "EGY"}, {"id": 259, "name": "El Salvador", "code": "SLV"}, {"id": 159, "name": "Equatorial Guinea", "code": "GNQ"}, {"id": 157, "name": "Eritrea", "code": "ERI"}, {"id": 156, "name": "Estonia", "code": "EST"}, {"id": 78, "name": "Eswatini", "code": "SWZ"}, {"id": 158, "name": "Ethiopia", "code": "ETH"}, {"id": 349171, "name": "Europe and Central Asia (WB)", "code": "WB_ECA"}, {"id": 153, "name": "Gabon", "code": "GAB"}, {"id": 151, "name": "Gambia", "code": "GMB"}, {"id": 152, "name": "Georgia", "code": "GEO"}, {"id": 150, "name": "Ghana", "code": "GHA"}, {"id": 149, "name": "Greece", "code": "GRC"}, {"id": 206, "name": "Grenada", "code": "GRD"}, {"id": 254, "name": "Guam", "code": "GUM"}, {"id": 148, "name": "Guatemala", "code": "GTM"}, {"id": 147, "name": "Guinea", "code": "GIN"}, {"id": 94, "name": "Guinea-Bissau", "code": "GNB"}, {"id": 146, "name": "Guyana", "code": "GUY"}, {"id": 145, "name": "Haiti", "code": "HTI"}, {"id": 457, "name": "High-income countries", "code": "OWID_HIC"}, {"id": 139, "name": "Honduras", "code": "HND"}, {"id": 138, "name": "Hungary", "code": "HUN"}, {"id": 137, "name": "India", "code": "IND"}, {"id": 136, "name": "Indonesia", "code": "IDN"}, {"id": 135, "name": "Iran", "code": "IRN"}, {"id": 134, "name": "Iraq", "code": "IRQ"}, {"id": 133, "name": "Israel", "code": "ISR"}, {"id": 8, "name": "Italy", "code": "ITA"}, {"id": 132, "name": "Jamaica", "code": "JAM"}, {"id": 130, "name": "Jordan", "code": "JOR"}, {"id": 131, "name": "Kazakhstan", "code": "KAZ"}, {"id": 129, "name": "Kenya", "code": "KEN"}, {"id": 204, "name": "Kiribati", "code": "KIR"}, {"id": 208, "name": "Kuwait", "code": "KWT"}, {"id": 126, "name": "Kyrgyzstan", "code": "KGZ"}, {"id": 125, "name": "Laos", "code": "LAO"}, {"id": 349170, "name": "Latin America and Caribbean (WB)", "code": "WB_LAC"}, {"id": 122, "name": "Latvia", "code": "LVA"}, {"id": 124, "name": "Lebanon", "code": "LBN"}, {"id": 123, "name": "Lesotho", "code": "LSO"}, {"id": 121, "name": "Liberia", "code": "LBR"}, {"id": 120, "name": "Libya", "code": "LBY"}, {"id": 119, "name": "Lithuania", "code": "LTU"}, {"id": 461, "name": "Low-income countries", "code": "OWID_LIC"}, {"id": 460, "name": "Lower-middle-income countries", "code": "OWID_LMC"}, {"id": 262, "name": "Macao", "code": "MAC"}, {"id": 118, "name": "Madagascar", "code": "MDG"}, {"id": 117, "name": "Malawi", "code": "MWI"}, {"id": 116, "name": "Malaysia", "code": "MYS"}, {"id": 211, "name": "Maldives", "code": "MDV"}, {"id": 115, "name": "Mali", "code": "MLI"}, {"id": 212, "name": "Malta", "code": "MLT"}, {"id": 223, "name": "Marshall Islands", "code": "MHL"}, {"id": 114, "name": "Mauritania", "code": "MRT"}, {"id": 213, "name": "Mauritius", "code": "MUS"}, {"id": 113, "name": "Mexico", "code": "MEX"}, {"id": 372001, "name": "Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan and Pakistan (WB)", "code": "WB_MENAP"}, {"id": 111, "name": "Moldova", "code": "MDA"}, {"id": 112, "name": "Mongolia", "code": "MNG"}, {"id": 215, "name": "Montenegro", "code": "MNE"}, {"id": 110, "name": "Morocco", "code": "MAR"}, {"id": 109, "name": "Mozambique", "code": "MOZ"}, {"id": 142, "name": "Myanmar", "code": "MMR"}, {"id": 108, "name": "Namibia", "code": "NAM"}, {"id": 218, "name": "Nauru", "code": "NRU"}, {"id": 107, "name": "Nepal", "code": "NPL"}, {"id": 220, "name": "New Caledonia", "code": "NCL"}, {"id": 105, "name": "Nicaragua", "code": "NIC"}, {"id": 104, "name": "Niger", "code": "NER"}, {"id": 103, "name": "Nigeria", "code": "NGA"}, {"id": 278896, "name": "North America (WB)", "code": "WB_NA"}, {"id": 128, "name": "North Korea", "code": "PRK"}, {"id": 66, "name": "North Macedonia", "code": "MKD"}, {"id": 217, "name": "Oman", "code": "OMN"}, {"id": 101, "name": "Pakistan", "code": "PAK"}, {"id": 224, "name": "Palau", "code": "PLW"}, {"id": 140, "name": "Palestine", "code": "PSE"}, {"id": 100, "name": "Panama", "code": "PAN"}, {"id": 99, "name": "Papua New Guinea", "code": "PNG"}, {"id": 98, "name": "Paraguay", "code": "PRY"}, {"id": 97, "name": "Peru", "code": "PER"}, {"id": 96, "name": "Philippines", "code": "PHL"}, {"id": 11, "name": "Poland", "code": "POL"}, {"id": 95, "name": "Portugal", "code": "PRT"}, {"id": 93, "name": "Puerto Rico", "code": "PRI"}, {"id": 226, "name": "Qatar", "code": "QAT"}, {"id": 92, "name": "Romania", "code": "ROU"}, {"id": 12, "name": "Russia", "code": "RUS"}, {"id": 91, "name": "Rwanda", "code": "RWA"}, {"id": 230, "name": "Saint Vincent and the Grenadines", "code": "VCT"}, {"id": 239, "name": "Samoa", "code": "WSM"}, {"id": 231, "name": "San Marino", "code": "SMR"}, {"id": 232, "name": "Sao Tome and Principe", "code": "STP"}, {"id": 90, "name": "Saudi Arabia", "code": "SAU"}, {"id": 89, "name": "Senegal", "code": "SEN"}, {"id": 88, "name": "Serbia", "code": "SRB"}, {"id": 233, "name": "Seychelles", "code": "SYC"}, {"id": 87, "name": "Sierra Leone", "code": "SLE"}, {"id": 86, "name": "Singapore", "code": "SGP"}, {"id": 83, "name": "Slovenia", "code": "SVN"}, {"id": 195, "name": "Solomon Islands", "code": "SLB"}, {"id": 82, "name": "Somalia", "code": "SOM"}, {"id": 81, "name": "South Africa", "code": "ZAF"}, {"id": 277956, "name": "South Asia (WB)", "code": "WB_SA"}, {"id": 127, "name": "South Korea", "code": "KOR"}, {"id": 258, "name": "South Sudan", "code": "SSD"}, {"id": 9, "name": "Spain", "code": "ESP"}, {"id": 141, "name": "Sri Lanka", "code": "LKA"}, {"id": 277950, "name": "Sub-Saharan Africa (WB)", "code": "WB_SSA"}, {"id": 79, "name": "Sudan", "code": "SDN"}, {"id": 234, "name": "Suriname", "code": "SUR"}, {"id": 77, "name": "Syria", "code": "SYR"}, {"id": 76, "name": "Tajikistan", "code": "TJK"}, {"id": 64, "name": "Tanzania", "code": "TZA"}, {"id": 75, "name": "Thailand", "code": "THA"}, {"id": 74, "name": "Togo", "code": "TGO"}, {"id": 235, "name": "Tonga", "code": "TON"}, {"id": 73, "name": "Trinidad and Tobago", "code": "TTO"}, {"id": 71, "name": "Tunisia", "code": "TUN"}, {"id": 70, "name": "Turkey", "code": "TUR"}, {"id": 69, "name": "Turkmenistan", "code": "TKM"}, {"id": 237, "name": "Tuvalu", "code": "TUV"}, {"id": 68, "name": "Uganda", "code": "UGA"}, {"id": 67, "name": "Ukraine", "code": "UKR"}, {"id": 72, "name": "United Arab Emirates", "code": "ARE"}, {"id": 459, "name": "Upper-middle-income countries", "code": "OWID_UMC"}, {"id": 63, "name": "Uruguay", "code": "URY"}, {"id": 62, "name": "Uzbekistan", "code": "UZB"}, {"id": 221, "name": "Vanuatu", "code": "VUT"}, {"id": 238, "name": "Venezuela", "code": "VEN"}, {"id": 84, "name": "Vietnam", "code": "VNM"}, {"id": 355, "name": "World", "code": "OWID_WRL"}, {"id": 61, "name": "Yemen", "code": "YEM"}, {"id": 60, "name": "Zambia", "code": "ZMB"}, {"id": 80, "name": "Zimbabwe", "code": "ZWE"}]}}, "origins": [{"id": 13392, "title": "World Development Indicators", "description": "The World Development Indicators (WDI) database, published by the World Bank, is a comprehensive collection of global development data, providing key economic, social, and environmental statistics. It includes over 1,500 indicators covering more than 200 countries and territories, with data spanning several decades.WDI serves as a vital resource for policymakers, researchers, businesses, and analysts seeking to understand global trends and make data-driven decisions. The database covers a wide range of topics, including economic growth, education, health, poverty, trade, energy, infrastructure, governance, and environmental sustainability.The indicators are sourced from reputable national and international agencies, ensuring high-quality, consistent, and comparable data. Users can access the database through interactive online tools, API services, and downloadable datasets, facilitating detailed analysis and visualization.WDI is also used for tracking progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and other global development initiatives. By providing accessible and reliable statistics, it helps to inform policy discussions and strategies globally.Whether for academic research, policy planning, or economic analysis, the World Development Indicators database is an essential tool for understanding and addressing global development challenges.", "producer": "UNESCO UIS Data API, via World Bank", "citationFull": "Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API.  Detailed documentation is available at: https://api.uis.unesco.org/api/public/documentation/, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), type: Excel (bulk file), date accessed: 2025-09-22, date published: 2025-09. Indicator SE.ADT.LITR.ZS (https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). World Development Indicators - World Bank (2026). Accessed on 2026-02-27.", "versionProducer": "125", "urlMain": "https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS", "urlDownload": "https://databankfiles.worldbank.org/public/ddpext_download/WDI_CSV.zip", "dateAccessed": "2026-02-27", "datePublished": "2026-01-28", "license": {"url": "https://datacatalog.worldbank.org/search/dataset/0037712/World-Development-Indicators", "name": "CC BY 4.0"}}]}