Proportion of children/young people at the age of primary education prepared for the future in reading, both sexes (%) by country
February 2026 Data Release
What the numbers show
Proportion of children/young people at the age of primary education prepared for the future in reading, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 13 countries. The highest value is 98.0% in Russian Federation; the lowest is 56.2% in Iran, Islamic Republic of.
The median across all reporting countries is 94.4%, and the mean is 91.6%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 3 countries rose and 10 fell. The largest increase was in United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (up 1.8%), and the largest decrease in Iran, Islamic Republic of (down 20.8%).
Proportion of children/young people at the age of primary education: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russian Federation | 98.0% | 2021 | down 0.7% | flat |
| 2 | Italy | 97.1% | 2021 | down 0.4% | flat |
| 3 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 96.9% | 2021 | up 1.8% | flat |
| 4 | Lithuania | 96.8% | 2021 | up 0.7% | flat |
| 5 | Netherlands | 96.2% | 2021 | down 3.1% | flat |
| 6 | Sweden | 95.2% | 2021 | down 2.4% | flat |
| 7 | United States of America | 94.4% | 2021 | down 2.9% | flat |
| 8 | Slovenia | 93.9% | 2021 | down 1.1% | flat |
| 9 | Slovakia | 93.5% | 2021 | down 2.1% | flat |
| 10 | Hungary | 93.3% | 2021 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 11 | Bulgaria | 92.0% | 2021 | up 0.0% | flat |
| 12 | Israel | 88.0% | 2021 | down 5.4% | flat |
| 13 | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 56.2% | 2021 | down 20.8% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- SDG: Europe and Northern America 96.6%
- WB: High Income (july 2025) 92.5%
- WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) 50.4%
- SDG: World 50.0%
- WB: Lower Middle Income (july 2025) 45.4%
- SDG: Latin America and the Caribbean 39.2%
- GPE: Overall Fy24, All 90 Countries, December 2024 29.4%
- SDG: Sub-saharan Africa 19.0%
- WB: Low Income (july 2025) 9.2%
About this data
February 2026 Data Release