Literacy rate, youth male in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan: Literacy rate, youth male was 90.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Literacy rate, youth male in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, 1974–2024
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in % of males ages 15-24.
Analysis
In 2024, literacy rate, youth male in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan stood at 90.4%. That is the highest value across all 51 years on record.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 1.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rate, youth male in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan peaked at 90.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 67.0%, in 1974.
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan ranks 28th of 40 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 51 years of available data.
Literacy rate, youth male in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan, year by year
| Year | % of males ages 15-24 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 67.0% | — |
| 1975 | 67.2% | +0.3% |
| 1976 | 67.4% | +0.3% |
| 1977 | 67.7% | +0.4% |
| 1978 | 68.0% | +0.5% |
| 1979 | 68.3% | +0.5% |
| 1980 | 68.6% | +0.4% |
| 1981 | 68.7% | +0.2% |
| 1982 | 69.2% | +0.7% |
| 1983 | 69.9% | +0.9% |
| 1984 | 70.4% | +0.8% |
| 1985 | 71.0% | +0.9% |
| 1986 | 71.6% | +0.8% |
| 1987 | 72.1% | +0.7% |
| 1988 | 72.7% | +0.8% |
| 1989 | 73.2% | +0.7% |
| 1990 | 74.3% | +1.5% |
| 1991 | 75.2% | +1.1% |
| 1992 | 77.8% | +3.5% |
| 1993 | 80.0% | +2.9% |
| 1994 | 80.5% | +0.5% |
| 1995 | 81.1% | +0.8% |
| 1996 | 81.6% | +0.6% |
| 1997 | 82.0% | +0.5% |
| 1998 | 82.3% | +0.3% |
| 1999 | 82.7% | +0.4% |
| 2000 | 83.0% | +0.4% |
| 2001 | 83.5% | +0.6% |
| 2002 | 83.8% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 86.5% | +3.3% |
| 2004 | 86.7% | +0.2% |
| 2005 | 86.8% | +0.1% |
| 2006 | 86.5% | -0.4% |
| 2007 | 86.3% | -0.2% |
| 2008 | 87.8% | +1.7% |
| 2009 | 88.0% | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 88.2% | +0.2% |
| 2011 | 87.7% | -0.6% |
| 2012 | 89.0% | +1.4% |
| 2013 | 88.9% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 89.0% | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 89.2% | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 88.6% | -0.7% |
| 2017 | 89.0% | +0.5% |
| 2018 | 88.2% | -1.0% |
| 2019 | 88.3% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 88.7% | +0.5% |
| 2021 | 89.1% | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 89.6% | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 90.0% | +0.5% |
| 2024 | 90.4% | +0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 67.6% | 67.0% | 68.3% | 6 |
| 1980s | 70.8% | 68.6% | 73.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 79.7% | 74.3% | 82.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 85.9% | 83.0% | 88.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 88.6% | 87.7% | 89.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 89.6% | 88.7% | 90.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
More education data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 3.29 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.113 units per person (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 68.09 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 91.90 million (2024)
- Population ages 15-64 63.1% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 31.7% (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.65 % change on previous year (2024)
All data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan →
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rate, youth male in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- Literacy rate, youth male in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan was 90.4% in 2024, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest literacy rate, youth male recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- The highest recorded value was 90.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest literacy rate, youth male recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- The lowest recorded value was 67.0% in 1974.
- How does Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan rank for literacy rate, youth male?
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan ranks 28th out of 40 groups with data for 2024.
- Is literacy rate, youth male rising or falling in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan data come from?
- The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 51 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
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.