Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509)
ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509): Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes was 57.9% in 2019. ▲ Rising
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509), 1989–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) recorded 57.9% for literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes in 2019. That is the highest value across all 31 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.5% on the previous year and up 5.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) peaked at 57.9% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 40.8%, in 1989.
That places ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) 192nd out of 203 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 31 years of available data.
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509), year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 40.8% | — |
| 1990 | 41.6% | +1.9% |
| 1991 | 42.4% | +1.9% |
| 1992 | 43.4% | +2.3% |
| 1993 | 44.2% | +2.0% |
| 1994 | 44.9% | +1.5% |
| 1995 | 45.7% | +1.8% |
| 1996 | 47.0% | +2.8% |
| 1997 | 48.3% | +2.9% |
| 1998 | 49.6% | +2.6% |
| 1999 | 50.9% | +2.6% |
| 2000 | 52.0% | +2.3% |
| 2001 | 53.2% | +2.3% |
| 2002 | 54.4% | +2.2% |
| 2003 | 55.6% | +2.2% |
| 2004 | 56.8% | +2.1% |
| 2005 | 57.5% | +1.4% |
| 2006 | 52.4% | -8.8% |
| 2007 | 53.5% | +2.0% |
| 2008 | 54.6% | +2.0% |
| 2009 | 55.0% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 55.6% | +1.0% |
| 2011 | 56.1% | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 56.6% | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 56.6% | +0.0% |
| 2014 | 56.0% | -1.1% |
| 2015 | 56.5% | +0.9% |
| 2016 | 57.2% | +1.2% |
| 2017 | 57.4% | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 57.6% | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 57.9% | +0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 40.8% | 40.8% | 40.8% | 1 |
| 1990s | 45.8% | 41.6% | 50.9% | 10 |
| 2000s | 54.5% | 52.0% | 57.5% | 10 |
| 2010s | 56.7% | 55.6% | 57.9% | 10 |
More education data for ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 661,389 (2020)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 685,428 (2020)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 441,485 (2020)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 265,472 (2020)
- Teachers in primary education, female (number), gaps filled 316,507 (2020)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), gaps filled 3.50 million (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate -0.2475 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 1.35 million (2020)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), annual 2.4 % change on previous year (2020)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 1.70 million (2016)
All data for ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) →
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509)?
- Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) was 57.9% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes recorded in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509)?
- The highest recorded value was 57.9% in 2019.
- What is the lowest literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes recorded in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509)?
- The lowest recorded value was 40.8% in 1989.
- How does ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) rank for literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes?
- ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) ranks 192nd out of 203 groups with data for 2019.
- Is literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes rising or falling in ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 5.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this ESCWA: Arab Low-income Countries (lics) (unsdcode:98509) data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
February 2026 Data Release