Proportion of children/young people at the age of lower secondary education prepared for the future in reading, both sexes (%) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
53
Highest
87.4%
Ireland
Lowest
18.8%
Jordan
Median
68.8%
Years covered
23
2000–2022
Data points
539
What the numbers show
Proportion of children/young people at the age of lower secondary education prepared for the future in reading, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 53 countries. The highest value is 87.4% in Ireland; the lowest is 18.8% in Jordan.
The median across all reporting countries is 68.8%, and the mean is 61.6%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5.
Over the past decade 6 countries rose and 47 fell. The largest increase was in Qatar (up 36.3%), and the largest decrease in Jordan (down 57.2%).
Proportion of children/young people at the age of lower secondary: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland | 87.4% | 2022 | down 1.4% | flat |
| 2 | Korea | 85.3% | 2022 | down 7.6% | falling |
| 3 | Estonia | 83.5% | 2022 | down 4.7% | flat |
| 4 | Canada | 81.1% | 2022 | down 7.8% | falling |
| 5 | Denmark | 80.8% | 2022 | down 5.0% | flat |
| 6 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 79.7% | 2022 | down 4.0% | falling |
| 7 | United States of America | 79.0% | 2022 | down 3.8% | flat |
| 8 | Finland | 78.3% | 2022 | down 11.3% | falling |
| 9 | Italy | 77.9% | 2022 | down 1.6% | flat |
| 10 | Australia | 77.7% | 2022 | down 7.3% | falling |
| 11 | Russian Federation | 77.5% | 2018 | up 7.8% | rising |
| 12 | Poland | 76.7% | 2022 | down 12.1% | rising |
| 13 | Croatia | 76.3% | 2022 | down 4.7% | flat |
| 14 | Latvia | 76.0% | 2022 | down 6.7% | flat |
| 15 | Czechia | 75.4% | 2022 | down 5.4% | flat |
| 16 | Sweden | 75.2% | 2022 | down 1.5% | falling |
| 17 | Lithuania | 74.5% | 2022 | down 4.5% | flat |
| 18 | Switzerland | 74.5% | 2022 | down 12.2% | falling |
| 19 | Austria | 73.5% | 2022 | down 7.5% | falling |
| 20 | Slovenia | 73.4% | 2022 | down 5.7% | falling |
| 21 | Norway | 72.3% | 2022 | down 13.3% | falling |
| 22 | France | 71.9% | 2022 | down 8.8% | falling |
| 23 | Spain | 71.7% | 2022 | down 1.7% | rising |
| 24 | Portugal | 71.4% | 2022 | up 0.7% | rising |
| 25 | Hungary | 70.9% | 2022 | down 8.0% | falling |
| 26 | Israel | 69.3% | 2022 | down 7.4% | rising |
| 27 | Germany | 68.8% | 2022 | down 12.8% | flat |
| 28 | Türkiye | 68.1% | 2022 | down 0.8% | rising |
| 29 | Belgium | 67.9% | 2022 | down 3.8% | rising |
| 30 | Chile | 64.7% | 2022 | down 0.4% | rising |
| 31 | Slovakia | 63.9% | 2022 | down 10.1% | falling |
| 32 | Serbia | 62.8% | 2022 | down 4.3% | rising |
| 33 | Luxembourg | 61.2% | 2018 | down 1.0% | rising |
| 34 | Greece | 59.8% | 2022 | down 18.6% | falling |
| 35 | Iceland | 59.7% | 2022 | down 23.6% | falling |
| 36 | Netherlands | 58.1% | 2022 | down 25.0% | falling |
| 37 | Romania | 54.2% | 2022 | down 7.3% | rising |
| 38 | Qatar | 52.4% | 2022 | up 36.3% | rising |
| 39 | Mexico | 46.7% | 2022 | down 4.8% | rising |
| 40 | Montenegro | 46.1% | 2022 | down 16.1% | rising |
| 41 | Bulgaria | 44.3% | 2022 | down 21.5% | falling |
| 42 | Brazil | 43.5% | 2022 | up 12.6% | rising |
| 43 | Uruguay | 41.2% | 2022 | up 12.9% | flat |
| 44 | Malaysia | 41.1% | 2022 | down 7.5% | falling |
| 45 | Costa Rica | 38.4% | 2022 | down 9.9% | falling |
| 46 | Colombia | 38.4% | 2022 | up 3.9% | rising |
| 47 | Kazakhstan | 36.1% | 2022 | down 15.4% | falling |
| 48 | Argentina | 35.8% | 2022 | down 1.2% | falling |
| 49 | Thailand | 31.1% | 2022 | down 45.7% | falling |
| 50 | Albania | 25.4% | 2022 | down 44.4% | rising |
| 51 | Indonesia | 22.9% | 2022 | down 35.7% | rising |
| 52 | Tunisia | 19.8% | 2015 | down 22.0% | rising |
| 53 | Jordan | 18.8% | 2022 | down 57.2% | falling |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
About this data
February 2026 Data Release