Proportion of students at the end of lower secondary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading, both sexes (%) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
59
Highest
88.8%
Singapore
Lowest
20.4%
Jordan
Median
73.9%
Years covered
23
2000–2022
Data points
577
What the numbers show
Proportion of students at the end of lower secondary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 59 countries. The highest value is 88.8% in Singapore; the lowest is 20.4% in Jordan.
The median across all reporting countries is 73.9%, and the mean is 66.2%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 4.
Over the past decade 4 countries rose and 55 fell. The largest increase was in Qatar (up 22.9%), and the largest decrease in Jordan (down 58.5%).
Proportion of students at the end of lower secondary education: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 88.8% | 2022 | down 1.4% | flat |
| 2 | Ireland | 88.6% | 2022 | down 2.0% | flat |
| 3 | Liechtenstein | 87.6% | 2012 | down 2.2% | rising |
| 4 | Macau, China | 87.4% | 2022 | down 1.3% | flat |
| 5 | Estonia | 86.2% | 2022 | down 5.2% | flat |
| 6 | Republic of Korea | 85.3% | 2022 | down 7.6% | falling |
| 7 | Hong Kong, China | 82.5% | 2022 | down 11.4% | falling |
| 8 | Canada | 81.8% | 2022 | down 8.1% | falling |
| 9 | Denmark | 81.0% | 2022 | down 5.1% | flat |
| 10 | United States of America | 79.9% | 2022 | down 4.2% | flat |
| 11 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 79.9% | 2022 | down 4.2% | falling |
| 12 | New Zealand | 79.3% | 2022 | down 5.3% | falling |
| 13 | Australia | 78.8% | 2022 | down 8.2% | falling |
| 14 | Czechia | 78.7% | 2022 | down 5.4% | flat |
| 15 | Italy | 78.6% | 2022 | down 2.3% | flat |
| 16 | Finland | 78.6% | 2022 | down 11.4% | falling |
| 17 | Russian Federation | 77.9% | 2018 | up 7.3% | rising |
| 18 | Poland | 77.8% | 2022 | down 13.0% | flat |
| 19 | Croatia | 77.3% | 2022 | down 4.9% | flat |
| 20 | Latvia | 77.2% | 2022 | down 7.0% | flat |
| 21 | Portugal | 76.8% | 2022 | down 5.3% | rising |
| 22 | Sweden | 75.7% | 2022 | down 2.0% | falling |
| 23 | Spain | 75.6% | 2022 | down 7.4% | flat |
| 24 | Switzerland | 75.4% | 2022 | down 12.7% | falling |
| 25 | Lithuania | 75.1% | 2022 | down 4.7% | flat |
| 26 | Belgium | 74.7% | 2022 | down 11.0% | falling |
| 27 | Austria | 74.7% | 2022 | down 7.2% | falling |
| 28 | Germany | 74.5% | 2022 | down 12.9% | flat |
| 29 | Hungary | 74.1% | 2022 | down 7.7% | falling |
| 30 | Slovenia | 73.9% | 2022 | down 6.3% | falling |
| 31 | France | 73.1% | 2022 | down 9.8% | falling |
| 32 | Norway | 72.5% | 2022 | down 13.4% | falling |
| 33 | Türkiye | 70.7% | 2022 | down 9.7% | rising |
| 34 | Luxembourg | 70.7% | 2018 | down 4.4% | flat |
| 35 | Israel | 70.4% | 2022 | down 7.9% | rising |
| 36 | Chile | 66.3% | 2022 | down 1.1% | rising |
| 37 | Netherlands | 65.4% | 2022 | down 23.9% | falling |
| 38 | Slovakia | 64.6% | 2022 | down 10.1% | falling |
| 39 | Serbia | 63.6% | 2022 | down 4.9% | rising |
| 40 | Greece | 62.4% | 2022 | down 19.4% | falling |
| 41 | Iceland | 60.3% | 2022 | down 23.7% | falling |
| 42 | Uruguay | 58.9% | 2022 | up 11.2% | flat |
| 43 | Romania | 58.3% | 2022 | down 7.1% | rising |
| 44 | Mexico | 53.0% | 2022 | down 10.0% | flat |
| 45 | Costa Rica | 52.9% | 2022 | down 21.7% | falling |
| 46 | Qatar | 52.7% | 2022 | up 22.9% | rising |
| 47 | United Arab Emirates | 52.0% | 2022 | down 19.3% | falling |
| 48 | Brazil | 49.7% | 2022 | down 2.3% | rising |
| 49 | Colombia | 48.6% | 2022 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 50 | Montenegro | 47.1% | 2022 | down 16.9% | rising |
| 50 | Bulgaria | 47.1% | 2022 | down 22.2% | falling |
| 52 | Argentina | 45.5% | 2022 | down 2.0% | falling |
| 53 | Malaysia | 41.9% | 2022 | down 11.4% | falling |
| 54 | Kazakhstan | 36.3% | 2022 | down 15.5% | falling |
| 55 | Thailand | 34.6% | 2022 | down 48.4% | falling |
| 56 | Tunisia | 28.4% | 2015 | down 30.7% | falling |
| 57 | Albania | 26.3% | 2022 | down 44.8% | rising |
| 58 | Indonesia | 25.5% | 2022 | down 43.1% | falling |
| 59 | Jordan | 20.4% | 2022 | down 58.5% | 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