Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso: Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity was 0.7339 GPIA in 2023. ▲ Rising
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Burkina Faso, 1975–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.
Analysis
Burkina Faso recorded 0.7339 GPIA for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in 2023. That is the highest value across all 13 years on record.
The figure is up 7.9% on the previous year and up 24.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Burkina Faso peaked at 0.7339 GPIA in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.23 GPIA, in 1975.
That places Burkina Faso 74th out of 88 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 13 years of available data.
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Burkina Faso, year by year
| Year | GPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 0.23 GPIA | — |
| 1991 | 0.42 GPIA | +82.6% |
| 1996 | 0.44 GPIA | +4.8% |
| 2003 | 0.52 GPIA | +18.2% |
| 2005 | 0.53 GPIA | +1.9% |
| 2006 | 0.55 GPIA | +3.8% |
| 2007 | 0.56 GPIA | +1.8% |
| 2014 | 0.59 GPIA | +5.4% |
| 2018 | 0.63 GPIA | +6.8% |
| 2019 | 0.7 GPIA | +11.1% |
| 2021 | 0.7 GPIA | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.68 GPIA | -2.9% |
| 2023 | 0.7339 GPIA | +7.9% |
Burkina Faso compared with similar countries
- Burkina Faso's 0.7339 GPIA is above the median for low income countries, which is 0.6872 GPIA, 1.1× the median. (13 countries reporting)
- Burkina Faso's 0.7339 GPIA is below the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.8 GPIA, 92% of the median. (28 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Burkina Faso changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | +82.6% | 0.23 GPIA | 0.42 GPIA |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 0.23 GPIA | 0.23 GPIA | 0.23 GPIA | 1 |
| 1990s | 0.43 GPIA | 0.42 GPIA | 0.44 GPIA | 2 |
| 2000s | 0.54 GPIA | 0.52 GPIA | 0.56 GPIA | 4 |
| 2010s | 0.64 GPIA | 0.59 GPIA | 0.7 GPIA | 3 |
| 2020s | 0.7046 GPIA | 0.68 GPIA | 0.7339 GPIA | 3 |
Countries ranked near Burkina Faso
More education data for Burkina Faso
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 68,557 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 105,439 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 78,072 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 75,598 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.19 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.07 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 8.2 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0.0001 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1303 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Burkina Faso?
- Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Burkina Faso was 0.7339 GPIA in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7339 GPIA in 2023.
- What is the lowest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity recorded in Burkina Faso?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.23 GPIA in 1975.
- How does Burkina Faso rank for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity?
- Burkina Faso ranks 74th out of 88 countries with data for 2023.
- Is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity rising or falling in Burkina Faso?
- Over the last ten years it is up 24.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Burkina Faso data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 13 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release