Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) by country
Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.
Countries reporting
95
Highest
100.0%
Philippines
Lowest
56.3%
Chad
Median
97.9%
Years covered
51
1974–2024
Data points
2,765
What the numbers show
Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) is currently reported for 95 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Philippines; the lowest is 56.3% in Chad.
The median across all reporting countries is 97.9%, and the mean is 92.7%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 62 countries rose and 29 fell. The largest increase was in Guinea (up 85.4%), and the largest decrease in Zambia (down 13.0%).
Literacy rate, youth male: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philippines | 100.0% | 2022 | up 2.6% | rising |
| 1 | Saudi Arabia | 100.0% | 2024 | up 0.7% | rising |
| 1 | Tajikistan | 100.0% | 2017 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 100.0% | 2022 | unchanged | flat |
| 5 | Palestine, State of | 99.9% | 2024 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 6 | Armenia | 99.9% | 2023 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 7 | Azerbaijan | 99.9% | 2023 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 8 | Singapore | 99.9% | 2021 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 9 | Belarus | 99.8% | 2019 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 9 | Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 99.8% | 2024 | up 0.2% | rising |
| 11 | Mauritius | 99.8% | 2023 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 12 | Republic of Moldova | 99.8% | 2014 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 13 | China | 99.8% | 2020 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 14 | Macau, China | 99.7% | 2016 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 15 | Serbia | 99.7% | 2022 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 16 | Spain | 99.7% | 2021 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 17 | Mongolia | 99.7% | 2024 | up 1.7% | flat |
| 18 | Oman | 99.7% | 2022 | up 2.3% | rising |
| 19 | United Arab Emirates | 99.6% | 2024 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 19 | Tonga | 99.6% | 2023 | up 0.3% | flat |
| 21 | Panama | 99.6% | 2024 | up 1.2% | flat |
| 22 | Georgia | 99.6% | 2024 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 23 | Bahrain | 99.5% | 2024 | — | rising |
| 24 | Peru | 99.4% | 2024 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 25 | Malaysia | 99.3% | 2022 | up 0.9% | rising |
| 26 | Brazil | 99.2% | 2024 | up 0.8% | rising |
| 27 | Chile | 99.1% | 2022 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 27 | Kuwait | 99.1% | 2020 | up 0.0% | rising |
| 29 | Viet Nam | 99.0% | 2022 | up 1.6% | flat |
| 30 | Albania | 98.9% | 2023 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 31 | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 98.9% | 2023 | up 0.8% | rising |
| 32 | Uruguay | 98.8% | 2024 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 33 | Ecuador | 98.8% | 2024 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 34 | Mexico | 98.8% | 2024 | down 0.1% | rising |
| 35 | Sri Lanka | 98.7% | 2024 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 36 | Maldives | 98.6% | 2019 | down 0.6% | rising |
| 37 | Paraguay | 98.6% | 2024 | down 0.4% | rising |
| 38 | Eswatini | 98.5% | 2022 | — | rising |
| 39 | Samoa | 98.5% | 2019 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 40 | Jordan | 98.5% | 2024 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 41 | Cape Verde | 98.5% | 2024 | up 0.9% | rising |
| 42 | Colombia | 98.4% | 2024 | up 0.3% | flat |
| 43 | Qatar | 98.4% | 2014 | up 3.7% | rising |
| 44 | Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 98.4% | 2017 | up 0.4% | rising |
| 45 | Tunisia | 98.2% | 2023 | up 0.2% | rising |
| 46 | India | 98.0% | 2024 | up 4.9% | rising |
| 47 | Thailand | 97.9% | 2022 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 48 | El Salvador | 97.9% | 2024 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 49 | Dominican Republic | 97.7% | 2024 | up 0.3% | rising |
| 50 | Suriname | 97.4% | 2018 | down 2.0% | flat |
| 51 | Nepal | 96.8% | 2019 | up 6.4% | rising |
| 52 | South Africa | 96.3% | 2024 | down 2.4% | rising |
| 53 | Myanmar | 96.3% | 2020 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 54 | Montenegro | 96.2% | 2018 | down 3.2% | flat |
| 55 | Cambodia | 95.9% | 2023 | up 5.1% | rising |
| 56 | Sao Tome and Principe | 95.8% | 2019 | down 1.3% | flat |
| 57 | Guatemala | 95.7% | 2024 | up 0.2% | rising |
| 58 | Egypt | 95.5% | 2022 | up 3.4% | rising |
| 59 | Honduras | 94.8% | 2024 | down 0.2% | rising |
| 60 | Lesotho | 94.3% | 2024 | up 7.9% | rising |
| 61 | Nicaragua | 94.1% | 2014 | up 10.5% | rising |
| 62 | Iraq | 93.8% | 2021 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 63 | Togo | 93.3% | 2022 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 64 | Morocco | 93.0% | 2014 | up 15.1% | rising |
| 65 | Indonesia | 92.9% | 2022 | down 6.0% | rising |
| 66 | Türkiye | 92.6% | 2022 | down 7.0% | rising |
| 67 | Bangladesh | 92.4% | 2022 | up 21.1% | rising |
| 68 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 92.2% | 2023 | down 2.3% | rising |
| 69 | Ghana | 91.7% | 2021 | up 3.9% | rising |
| 70 | Namibia | 90.8% | 2023 | down 1.4% | rising |
| 71 | Comoros | 90.3% | 2021 | up 6.2% | rising |
| 72 | Tanzania, United Republic of | 88.8% | 2022 | up 1.9% | flat |
| 73 | Ethiopia | 88.4% | 2022 | up 35.9% | rising |
| 74 | Burundi | 88.2% | 2020 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 75 | Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 87.8% | 2023 | down 5.1% | rising |
| 76 | Cameroon | 87.6% | 2018 | down 2.0% | rising |
| 77 | Rwanda | 87.5% | 2022 | up 7.9% | rising |
| 78 | Timor-Leste | 86.4% | 2022 | up 7.3% | flat |
| 79 | Uganda | 84.3% | 2024 | up 3.3% | rising |
| 80 | Afghanistan | 83.4% | 2022 | up 34.8% | rising |
| 81 | Côte d'Ivoire | 82.1% | 2022 | up 38.9% | rising |
| 82 | Nigeria | 81.3% | 2024 | down 5.6% | flat |
| 83 | Malawi | 81.3% | 2020 | — | rising |
| 84 | Pakistan | 79.5% | 2021 | up 1.8% | rising |
| 85 | Zambia | 79.3% | 2024 | down 13.0% | rising |
| 86 | Mozambique | 78.4% | 2022 | down 1.8% | rising |
| 87 | Sierra Leone | 78.2% | 2019 | up 6.3% | rising |
| 88 | Benin | 74.6% | 2022 | up 4.2% | rising |
| 89 | Gambia | 72.0% | 2021 | down 8.1% | rising |
| 90 | Guinea | 69.6% | 2018 | up 85.4% | rising |
| 91 | Senegal | 69.3% | 2023 | up 10.2% | rising |
| 92 | Burkina Faso | 65.5% | 2022 | up 39.2% | rising |
| 93 | Niger | 64.0% | 2022 | up 31.7% | rising |
| 94 | Mali | 57.2% | 2024 | down 5.4% | rising |
| 95 | Chad | 56.3% | 2019 | up 4.7% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) 99.9%
- Europe & Central Asia (IDA & IBRD countries) 99.9%
- Europe & Central Asia 99.8%
- North America 99.7%
- Central Europe and the Baltics 99.6%
- Late-demographic dividend 99.5%
- OECD members 99.3%
- Upper middle income 99.3%
- East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) 99.2%
- East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) 99.1%
- East Asia & Pacific 99.0%
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 98.5%
- Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 98.5%
- Latin America & Caribbean 98.5%
- IBRD only 98.5%
- South Asia 97.3%
- South Asia (IDA & IBRD) 97.3%
- Middle income 95.8%
- Early-demographic dividend 95.1%
- Caribbean Small States 94.6%
- World 94.1%
- IDA & IBRD total 93.5%
- Low & middle income 93.5%
- Lower middle income 93.4%
- Arab World 92.2%
- Small states 91.9%
- Other small states 90.9%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 90.4%
- IDA blend 84.3%
- IDA total 83.6%
- IDA only 83.6%
- Africa Eastern and Southern 83.5%
- Least developed countries 82.1%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 81.3%
- Sub-Saharan Africa 81.3%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 81.3%
- Pre-demographic dividend 81.2%
- Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 80.1%
- Africa Western and Central 78.2%
- Low income 78.1%
About this data
Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.