Literacy rate in Kuwait
Kuwait: Literacy rate was 96.5% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Literacy rate in Kuwait, 1950–2020
Source: UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Kuwait recorded 96.5% for literacy rate in 2020. That is the highest value across all 16 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 2.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rate in Kuwait peaked at 96.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 17.5%, in 1950.
Kuwait ranks 45th of 128 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 16 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 17.5% | 17.5% | 17.5% | 1 |
| 1970s | 59.6% | 59.6% | 59.6% | 1 |
| 1980s | 71.0% | 67.5% | 74.5% | 2 |
| 1990s | 78.4% | 78.4% | 78.4% | 1 |
| 2000s | 93.5% | 93.3% | 93.9% | 4 |
| 2010s | 95.6% | 94.5% | 96.1% | 6 |
| 2020s | 96.5% | 96.5% | 96.5% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Kuwait
More education data for Kuwait
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 4 years (2025)
- Duration of pre-primary education 2 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 78.9% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 11 years (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 18.0% (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 82.4% (2021)
- Primary education, teachers 32,782 (2021)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.51 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 88.7% (2021)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rate in Kuwait?
- Literacy rate in Kuwait was 96.5% in 2020, according to UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest literacy rate recorded in Kuwait?
- The highest recorded value was 96.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest literacy rate recorded in Kuwait?
- The lowest recorded value was 17.5% in 1950.
- How does Kuwait rank for literacy rate?
- Kuwait ranks 45th out of 128 countries with data for 2020.
- Is literacy rate rising or falling in Kuwait?
- Over the last ten years it is up 2.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Kuwait data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Literacy rate. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of adults who can read and write a simple statement about their everyday life.