Literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru
Peru: Literacy rate vs. average years of schooling was 94.5% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru, 1950–2020
Source: UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2020, literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru stood at 94.5%. That is the highest value across all 14 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.1% on the previous year and up 0.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru peaked at 94.5% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 47.5%, in 1950.
That places Peru 58th out of 128 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 14 years of available data.
Literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 47.5% | — |
| 1981 | 81.9% | +72.5% |
| 1993 | 87.2% | +6.4% |
| 2004 | 87.7% | +0.6% |
| 2005 | 87.9% | +0.3% |
| 2006 | 88.7% | +0.9% |
| 2007 | 89.6% | +1.0% |
| 2012 | 93.8% | +4.7% |
| 2014 | 93.7% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 94.2% | +0.5% |
| 2016 | 94.2% | +0.0% |
| 2017 | 94.2% | -0.0% |
| 2018 | 94.4% | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 94.5% | +0.1% |
Peru compared with similar countries
- Peru's 94.5% is below the median for upper middle income countries, which is 95.8%, 99% of the median. (38 countries reporting)
- Peru's 94.5% is below the median for Latin America & Caribbean, which is 94.6%, 100% of the median. (22 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | +72.5% | 47.5% | 81.9% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 47.5% | 47.5% | 47.5% | 1 |
| 1980s | 81.9% | 81.9% | 81.9% | 1 |
| 1990s | 87.2% | 87.2% | 87.2% | 1 |
| 2000s | 88.5% | 87.7% | 89.6% | 4 |
| 2010s | 94.1% | 93.7% | 94.4% | 6 |
| 2020s | 94.5% | 94.5% | 94.5% | 1 |
Countries ranked near Peru
More education data for Peru
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 224,754 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 84,765 (2019)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 770,032 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 745,341 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.11 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 3.71 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.84 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.1083 units per person (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru?
- Literacy rate vs. average years of schooling in Peru was 94.5% in 2020, according to UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest literacy rate vs. average years of schooling recorded in Peru?
- The highest recorded value was 94.5% in 2020.
- What is the lowest literacy rate vs. average years of schooling recorded in Peru?
- The lowest recorded value was 47.5% in 1950.
- How does Peru rank for literacy rate vs. average years of schooling?
- Peru ranks 58th out of 128 countries with data for 2020.
- Is literacy rate vs. average years of schooling rising or falling in Peru?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Peru data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Literacy rate vs. average years of schooling. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 14 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of adults who can read and write a simple statement about their everyday life.