Literacy in Philippines
Philippines: Literacy was 98.47 in 2020. ▲ Rising
Latest (2020)
98.47
Change on year
up 2.3%
World rank
14th
of 89 countries
All-time high
98.47
in 2020
All-time low
83.32
in 1980
Years of data
11
1980–2020
Literacy in Philippines, 1980–2020
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Philippines recorded 98.47 for literacy in 2020. That is the highest value across all 11 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.3% on the previous year and up 1.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy in Philippines peaked at 98.47 in 2020 and was at its lowest, 83.32, in 1980.
Philippines ranks 14th of 89 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 11 years of available data.
Literacy in Philippines, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1980 | 83.32 | — |
| 1990 | 93.57 | +12.3% |
| 1994 | 93.92 | +0.4% |
| 2000 | 92.6 | -1.4% |
| 2003 | 92.59 | -0.0% |
| 2008 | 95.42 | +3.1% |
| 2010 | 97.09 | +1.8% |
| 2013 | 96.4 | -0.7% |
| 2015 | 98.18 | +1.8% |
| 2019 | 96.28 | -1.9% |
| 2020 | 98.47 | +2.3% |
Philippines compared with similar countries
- Philippines's 98.47 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 95.55, 1.0× the median. (33 countries reporting)
- Philippines's 98.47 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 96.06, 1.0× the median. (16 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 83.32 | 83.32 | 83.32 | 1 |
| 1990s | 93.75 | 93.57 | 93.92 | 2 |
| 2000s | 93.54 | 92.59 | 95.42 | 3 |
| 2010s | 96.99 | 96.28 | 98.18 | 4 |
| 2020s | 98.47 | 98.47 | 98.47 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Philippines
More education data for Philippines
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 87.25 (2024)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 88.36 (2024)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 495,843 (2024)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 201,568 (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.06 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 983,812 (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 11.87 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 13.06 million (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 0.8345 % change on previous year (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy in Philippines?
- Literacy in Philippines was 98.47 in 2020, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest literacy recorded in Philippines?
- The highest recorded value was 98.47 in 2020.
- What is the lowest literacy recorded in Philippines?
- The lowest recorded value was 83.32 in 1980.
- How does Philippines rank for literacy?
- Philippines ranks 14th out of 89 countries with data for 2020.
- Is literacy rising or falling in Philippines?
- Over the last ten years it is up 1.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Philippines data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Literacy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 11 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).