Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity in South Africa
South Africa: Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity was 0.9 LPIA in 2024. ▲ Rising
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity in South Africa, 1996–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in LPIA.
Analysis
South Africa recorded 0.9 LPIA for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity in 2024.
That represents a change of up 2.3% on the previous year and down 1.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity in South Africa peaked at 0.94 LPIA in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.79 LPIA, in 1996.
South Africa ranks 29th of 53 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity in South Africa, year by year
| Year | LPIA | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | 0.79 LPIA | — |
| 2009 | 0.9 LPIA | +13.9% |
| 2010 | 0.9 LPIA | +0.0% |
| 2011 | 0.9 LPIA | +0.0% |
| 2012 | 0.9 LPIA | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.91 LPIA | +1.1% |
| 2015 | 0.91 LPIA | +0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.89 LPIA | -2.2% |
| 2019 | 0.94 LPIA | +5.6% |
| 2021 | 0.88 LPIA | -6.4% |
| 2024 | 0.9 LPIA | +2.3% |
South Africa compared with similar countries
- South Africa's 0.9 LPIA is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 0.95 LPIA, 95% of the median. (24 countries reporting)
- South Africa's 0.9 LPIA is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.64 LPIA, 1.4× the median. (12 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.79 LPIA | 0.79 LPIA | 0.79 LPIA | 1 |
| 2000s | 0.9 LPIA | 0.9 LPIA | 0.9 LPIA | 1 |
| 2010s | 0.9071 LPIA | 0.89 LPIA | 0.94 LPIA | 7 |
| 2020s | 0.89 LPIA | 0.88 LPIA | 0.9 LPIA | 2 |
Countries ranked near South Africa
More education data for South Africa
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 181,739 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 339,638 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 410,708 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 407,696 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.50 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 7.52 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.44 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.119 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity in South Africa?
- Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity in South Africa was 0.9 LPIA in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity recorded in South Africa?
- The highest recorded value was 0.94 LPIA in 2019.
- What is the lowest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity recorded in South Africa?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.79 LPIA in 1996.
- How does South Africa rank for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity?
- South Africa ranks 29th out of 53 countries with data for 2024.
- Is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity rising or falling in South Africa?
- Over the last ten years it is down 1.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Africa data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted location parity index (LPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release