Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)

WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025): Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes was 96.2% in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
96.2%
Change on year
up 0.1%
Rank
46th
of 203 groups
All-time high
96.2%
in 2024
All-time low
66.5%
in 1974
Years of data
51
1974–2024

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025), 1974–2024

020406080100197419992024

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.

Analysis

In 2024, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) stood at 96.2%. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 1.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) peaked at 96.2% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 66.5%, in 1974.

That places WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) 46th out of 203 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025), year by year

Annual values for Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes (%) in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025), 1974 to 2024.
Year % Change
1974 66.5%
1975 66.5% +0.1%
1976 66.8% +0.4%
1977 67.0% +0.4%
1978 68.0% +1.5%
1979 69.1% +1.6%
1980 70.1% +1.4%
1981 71.0% +1.4%
1982 72.0% +1.3%
1983 72.9% +1.3%
1984 73.9% +1.5%
1985 74.8% +1.2%
1986 75.7% +1.1%
1987 76.5% +1.1%
1988 79.8% +4.2%
1989 80.4% +0.8%
1990 81.1% +0.9%
1991 81.6% +0.7%
1992 82.2% +0.7%
1993 82.7% +0.7%
1994 83.3% +0.6%
1995 83.8% +0.7%
1996 84.3% +0.6%
1997 88.6% +5.1%
1998 89.0% +0.5%
1999 89.4% +0.4%
2000 89.8% +0.5%
2001 90.1% +0.4%
2002 90.5% +0.4%
2003 90.9% +0.5%
2004 91.3% +0.4%
2005 91.5% +0.3%
2006 91.8% +0.3%
2007 92.8% +1.1%
2008 93.3% +0.5%
2009 93.7% +0.4%
2010 93.8% +0.1%
2011 94.0% +0.2%
2012 94.3% +0.3%
2013 94.4% +0.1%
2014 94.8% +0.4%
2015 94.9% +0.1%
2016 95.1% +0.2%
2017 95.2% +0.0%
2018 95.3% +0.2%
2019 95.6% +0.3%
2020 95.7% +0.1%
2021 95.8% +0.0%
2022 95.9% +0.2%
2023 96.0% +0.1%
2024 96.2% +0.1%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 67.3% 66.5% 69.1% 6
1980s 74.7% 70.1% 80.4% 10
1990s 84.6% 81.1% 89.4% 10
2000s 91.6% 89.8% 93.7% 10
2010s 94.7% 93.8% 95.6% 10
2020s 95.9% 95.7% 96.2% 5

Countries ranked near WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)

  1. 43 Ecuador 93.5% compare
  2. 44 Sri Lanka 92.7% compare
  3. 45 South Africa 91.2% compare
  4. 46 Thailand 91.1% compare
  5. 47 Lesotho 90.5% compare
  6. 48 El Salvador 89.8% compare
  7. 49 Iran 88.9% compare

See the full ranking of 292 places →

More education data for WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)

All data for WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) →

Frequently asked questions

What is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)?
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) was 96.2% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes recorded in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)?
The highest recorded value was 96.2% in 2024.
What is the lowest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes recorded in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)?
The lowest recorded value was 66.5% in 1974.
How does WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) rank for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes?
WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) ranks 46th out of 203 groups with data for 2024.
Is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes rising or falling in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025). Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 17 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/adult-literacy-rate-population-15-years-both-sexes-percent/wb-upper-middle-income-july-2025/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/stat/adult-literacy-rate-population-15-years-both-sexes-percent/wb-upper-middle-income-july-2025/">Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes in WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025)</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, both sexes (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics)
Coverage
292 places, 9,592 data points, 1970–2024
Last refreshed

February 2026 Data Release