Literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia

Cambodia: Literacy rate, adult male was 90.3% in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
90.3%
Change on year
up 10.8%
World rank
53rd
of 88 countries
All-time high
90.9%
in 2019
All-time low
79.5%
in 1998
Years of data
11
1998–2023

Literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia, 1998–2023

0204060801001998201020231998: 79.5 % of males ages 15 and above2004: 84.7 % of males ages 15 and above2008: 85 % of males ages 15 and above2009: 83.9 % of males ages 15 and above2013: 86.4 % of males ages 15 and above2014: 84.8 % of males ages 15 and above2015: 86.5 % of males ages 15 and above2019: 90.9 % of males ages 15 and above2020: 87.7 % of males ages 15 and above2021: 81.5 % of males ages 15 and above2023: 90.3 % of males ages 15 and above

Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in % of males ages 15 and above.

Analysis

Cambodia recorded 90.3% for literacy rate, adult male in 2023.

The figure is up 10.8% on the previous year and up 4.5% over ten years.

Over the whole period, literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia peaked at 90.9% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 79.5%, in 1998.

Cambodia ranks 53rd of 88 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.

Literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia, year by year

Annual values for Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) in Cambodia, 1998 to 2023.
Year % of males ages 15 and above Change
1998 79.5%
2004 84.7% +6.5%
2008 85.0% +0.4%
2009 83.9% -1.2%
2013 86.4% +3.0%
2014 84.8% -1.9%
2015 86.5% +2.0%
2019 90.9% +5.0%
2020 87.7% -3.5%
2021 81.5% -7.1%
2023 90.3% +10.8%

Cambodia compared with similar countries

  • Cambodia's 90.3% is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is 83.7%, 1.1× the median. (30 countries reporting)
  • Cambodia's 90.3% is below the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 97.5%, 93% of the median. (15 countries reporting)

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1990s 79.5% 79.5% 79.5% 1
2000s 84.5% 83.9% 85.0% 3
2010s 87.2% 84.8% 90.9% 4
2020s 86.5% 81.5% 90.3% 3

Countries ranked near Cambodia

  1. 50 South Africa 91.5% compare
  2. 51 Thailand 90.7% compare
  3. 52 Iraq 90.3% compare
  4. 54 Namibia 87.9% compare
  5. 55 Honduras 87.6% compare
  6. 56 Guatemala 86.9% compare

See the full ranking of 127 places →

More education data for Cambodia

All data for Cambodia →

Frequently asked questions

What is literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia?
Literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia was 90.3% in 2023, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
What is the highest literacy rate, adult male recorded in Cambodia?
The highest recorded value was 90.9% in 2019.
What is the lowest literacy rate, adult male recorded in Cambodia?
The lowest recorded value was 79.5% in 1998.
How does Cambodia rank for literacy rate, adult male?
Cambodia ranks 53rd out of 88 countries with data for 2023.
Is literacy rate, adult male rising or falling in Cambodia?
Over the last ten years it is up 4.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Cambodia data come from?
The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia. Statizoid, drawing on Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/literacy-rate-adult-male-percent-of-males-ages-15-and-above/cambodia/

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 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://education.statizoid.com/stat/literacy-rate-adult-male-percent-of-males-ages-15-and-above/cambodia/">Literacy rate, adult male in Cambodia</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above)
Unit
% of males ages 15 and above
Source
Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
127 places, 2,578 data points, 1974–2024
Last refreshed

Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.