Literacy in Turkey
Turkey: Literacy was 97.26 in 2021. ▲ Rising
Latest (2021)
97.26
Change on year
up 0.5%
World rank
23rd
of 89 countries
All-time high
97.26
in 2021
All-time low
61.63
in 1975
Years of data
19
1975–2021
Literacy in Turkey, 1975–2021
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
Turkey recorded 97.26 for literacy in 2021. That is the highest value across all 19 years on record.
The figure is up 0.5% on the previous year and up 3.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy in Turkey peaked at 97.26 in 2021 and was at its lowest, 61.63, in 1975.
That places Turkey 23rd out of 89 countries with data for 2021, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 19 years of available data.
Literacy in Turkey, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 61.63 | — |
| 1980 | 65.69 | +6.6% |
| 1985 | 75.97 | +15.6% |
| 1990 | 79.23 | +4.3% |
| 2004 | 87.37 | +10.3% |
| 2005 | 88.23 | +1.0% |
| 2006 | 88.12 | -0.1% |
| 2007 | 88.66 | +0.6% |
| 2009 | 90.82 | +2.4% |
| 2010 | 92.66 | +2.0% |
| 2011 | 94.11 | +1.6% |
| 2012 | 94.92 | +0.9% |
| 2013 | 95.26 | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 95.44 | +0.2% |
| 2015 | 95.6 | +0.2% |
| 2016 | 95.86 | +0.3% |
| 2017 | 96.15 | +0.3% |
| 2019 | 96.74 | +0.6% |
| 2021 | 97.26 | +0.5% |
Turkey compared with similar countries
- Turkey's 97.26 is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 95.55, 1.0× the median. (33 countries reporting)
- Turkey's 97.26 is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 99.69, 98% of the median. (10 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 61.63 | 61.63 | 61.63 | 1 |
| 1980s | 70.83 | 65.69 | 75.97 | 2 |
| 1990s | 79.23 | 79.23 | 79.23 | 1 |
| 2000s | 88.64 | 87.37 | 90.82 | 5 |
| 2010s | 95.19 | 92.66 | 96.74 | 9 |
| 2020s | 97.26 | 97.26 | 97.26 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Turkey
More education data for Turkey
- Gender gap education levels, gaps filled 99.5 (2017)
- Primary enrollment selected countries, gaps filled 99.4 (2023)
- Teachers in secondary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 788,294 (2023)
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 184,302 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 1.05 million (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 980,973 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 12.31 million (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 5.54 million (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate 1.87 % change on previous year (2023)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy in Turkey?
- Literacy in Turkey was 97.26 in 2021, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest literacy recorded in Turkey?
- The highest recorded value was 97.26 in 2021.
- What is the lowest literacy recorded in Turkey?
- The lowest recorded value was 61.63 in 1975.
- How does Turkey rank for literacy?
- Turkey ranks 23rd out of 89 countries with data for 2021.
- Is literacy rising or falling in Turkey?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Turkey 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 — 19 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).