Literacy rates among adults in Cambodia
Cambodia: Literacy rates among adults was 71.9% in 2021. ▲ Rising
Literacy rates among adults in Cambodia, 1998–2021
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Cambodia recorded 71.9% for literacy rates among adults in 2021.
That represents a change of down 12.9% on the previous year and down 5.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rates among adults in Cambodia peaked at 87.7% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 67.3%, in 1998.
That places Cambodia 68th out of 89 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 10 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 67.3% | 67.3% | 67.3% | 1 |
| 2000s | 75.5% | 73.6% | 76.9% | 3 |
| 2010s | 81.5% | 78.1% | 87.7% | 4 |
| 2020s | 77.2% | 71.9% | 82.6% | 2 |
Countries ranked near Cambodia
More education data for Cambodia
- Duration of pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Official entrance age to pre-primary education 3 years (2025)
- Population ages 15-64 64.1% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 29.5% (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age 12 years (2025)
- Primary school starting age 6 years (2025)
- School enrollment, primary 109.0% (2024)
- Primary education, teachers 46,016 (2024)
- Fertility rate vs. average years of schooling 2.55 live births per woman (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female 106.7% (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rates among adults in Cambodia?
- Literacy rates among adults in Cambodia was 71.9% in 2021, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest literacy rates among adults recorded in Cambodia?
- The highest recorded value was 87.7% in 2019.
- What is the lowest literacy rates among adults recorded in Cambodia?
- The lowest recorded value was 67.3% in 1998.
- How does Cambodia rank for literacy rates among adults?
- Cambodia ranks 68th out of 89 countries with data for 2021.
- Is literacy rates among adults rising or falling in Cambodia?
- Over the last ten years it is down 5.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Cambodia data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Literacy rates among adults. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 10 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Share of the population aged 15 years and older who can read and write.