Literacy rate in Philippines
Philippines: Literacy rate was 98.5% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Literacy rate in Philippines, 1918–2020
Source: UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for literacy rate in Philippines is 98.5%, measured in 2020. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.3% on the previous year and up 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rate in Philippines peaked at 98.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 48.8%, in 1939.
That places Philippines 25th out of 128 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 49.2% | 49.2% | 49.2% | 1 |
| 1930s | 48.8% | 48.8% | 48.8% | 1 |
| 1940s | 61.3% | 61.3% | 61.3% | 1 |
| 1950s | 62.5% | 62.5% | 62.5% | 1 |
| 1980s | 83.3% | 83.3% | 83.3% | 1 |
| 1990s | 93.7% | 93.6% | 93.9% | 2 |
| 2000s | 93.5% | 92.6% | 95.4% | 3 |
| 2010s | 97.0% | 96.3% | 98.2% | 4 |
| 2020s | 98.5% | 98.5% | 98.5% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Philippines
More education data for Philippines
- Duration of pre-primary education 1 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 5 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 27.1% (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 67.1% (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 94.0% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 527,504 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 1.89 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 92.1% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rate in Philippines?
- Literacy rate in Philippines was 98.5% 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 Philippines?
- The highest recorded value was 98.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest literacy rate recorded in Philippines?
- The lowest recorded value was 48.8% in 1939.
- How does Philippines rank for literacy rate?
- Philippines ranks 25th out of 128 countries with data for 2020.
- Is literacy rate rising or falling in Philippines?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Philippines 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 — 15 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.