Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka: Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female was 91.5% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female in Sri Lanka, 1981–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female in Sri Lanka stood at 91.5%.
That represents a change of up 0.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female in Sri Lanka peaked at 91.5% in 2023 and was at its lowest, 79.5%, in 1981.
Sri Lanka ranks 16th of 55 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female in Sri Lanka, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 79.5% | — |
| 2001 | 88.5% | +11.4% |
| 2006 | 88.5% | +0.0% |
| 2008 | 88.7% | +0.2% |
| 2010 | 89.5% | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 91.0% | +1.7% |
| 2017 | 90.4% | -0.7% |
| 2018 | 90.3% | -0.1% |
| 2019 | 90.9% | +0.6% |
| 2020 | 91.1% | +0.2% |
| 2021 | 91.1% | +0.0% |
| 2022 | 91.2% | +0.2% |
| 2023 | 91.5% | +0.2% |
| 2024 | 91.5% | -0.0% |
Sri Lanka compared with similar countries
- Sri Lanka's 91.5% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 89.1%, 1.0× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 79.5% | 79.5% | 79.5% | 1 |
| 2000s | 88.6% | 88.5% | 88.7% | 3 |
| 2010s | 90.4% | 89.5% | 91.0% | 5 |
| 2020s | 91.3% | 91.1% | 91.5% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Sri Lanka
More education data for Sri Lanka
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 155,543 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 224,799 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 214,300 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 2.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 1.58 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -2.89 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0715 units per person (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female in Sri Lanka?
- Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female in Sri Lanka was 91.5% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The highest recorded value was 91.5% in 2023.
- What is the lowest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female recorded in Sri Lanka?
- The lowest recorded value was 79.5% in 1981.
- How does Sri Lanka rank for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female?
- Sri Lanka ranks 16th out of 55 countries with data for 2024.
- Is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female rising or falling in Sri Lanka?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Sri Lanka data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, rural, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release