Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104)
ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104): Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male was 86.8% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Latest (2024)
86.8%
Change on year
up 0.1%
Rank
95th
of 203 groups
All-time high
88.3%
in 2020
All-time low
66.8%
in 1974
Years of data
51
1974–2024
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104), 1974–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104) stood at 86.8%.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104) peaked at 88.3% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 66.8%, in 1974.
That places ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104) 95th out of 203 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104), year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 66.8% | — |
| 1975 | 66.8% | +0.1% |
| 1976 | 67.2% | +0.6% |
| 1977 | 67.5% | +0.5% |
| 1978 | 67.9% | +0.6% |
| 1979 | 68.3% | +0.5% |
| 1980 | 68.7% | +0.6% |
| 1981 | 69.5% | +1.2% |
| 1982 | 70.1% | +0.9% |
| 1983 | 70.8% | +1.0% |
| 1984 | 71.5% | +1.0% |
| 1985 | 72.2% | +1.0% |
| 1986 | 73.0% | +1.1% |
| 1987 | 73.8% | +1.1% |
| 1988 | 74.6% | +1.1% |
| 1989 | 74.9% | +0.4% |
| 1990 | 75.3% | +0.6% |
| 1991 | 74.7% | -0.9% |
| 1992 | 75.4% | +0.9% |
| 1993 | 75.9% | +0.7% |
| 1994 | 76.5% | +0.8% |
| 1995 | 77.0% | +0.5% |
| 1996 | 77.4% | +0.6% |
| 1997 | 77.8% | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 78.3% | +0.7% |
| 1999 | 79.3% | +1.3% |
| 2000 | 79.8% | +0.6% |
| 2001 | 80.3% | +0.6% |
| 2002 | 81.7% | +1.8% |
| 2003 | 82.1% | +0.5% |
| 2004 | 83.4% | +1.6% |
| 2005 | 83.3% | -0.1% |
| 2006 | 82.8% | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 82.6% | -0.2% |
| 2008 | 82.5% | -0.1% |
| 2009 | 83.7% | +1.5% |
| 2010 | 84.3% | +0.6% |
| 2011 | 84.6% | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 85.3% | +0.8% |
| 2013 | 85.9% | +0.7% |
| 2014 | 86.3% | +0.4% |
| 2015 | 86.0% | -0.3% |
| 2016 | 86.7% | +0.8% |
| 2017 | 83.7% | -3.4% |
| 2018 | 85.1% | +1.6% |
| 2019 | 88.3% | +3.8% |
| 2020 | 88.3% | +0.0% |
| 2021 | 86.2% | -2.4% |
| 2022 | 86.5% | +0.3% |
| 2023 | 86.7% | +0.3% |
| 2024 | 86.8% | +0.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 67.4% | 66.8% | 68.3% | 6 |
| 1980s | 71.9% | 68.7% | 74.9% | 10 |
| 1990s | 76.8% | 74.7% | 79.3% | 10 |
| 2000s | 82.2% | 79.8% | 83.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 85.6% | 83.7% | 88.3% | 10 |
| 2020s | 86.9% | 86.2% | 88.3% | 5 |
More education data for ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 17.47 million (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 1.9 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), annual growth rate 2.08 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), gaps filled 7.02 million (2024)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), annual growth rate 0.8034 % change on previous year (2024)
- Teachers in primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 875,127 (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, both sexes (number), annual growth 1.99 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 14.16 million (2024)
- Enrolment in primary education, male (number), annual growth rate 0.6859 % change on previous year (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 2.68 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104)?
- Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104) was 86.8% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male recorded in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104)?
- The highest recorded value was 88.3% in 2020.
- What is the lowest literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male recorded in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104)?
- The lowest recorded value was 66.8% in 1974.
- How does ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104) rank for literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male?
- ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104) ranks 95th out of 203 groups with data for 2024.
- Is literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male rising or falling in ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this ECA: Southern Africa (unsdcode:98104) data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
February 2026 Data Release