Proportion of students at the end of lower secondary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading, non-immigrant background, both sexes (%) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
51
Highest
89.6%
Ireland
Lowest
21.3%
Jordan
Median
76.6%
Years covered
23
2000–2022
Data points
364
What the numbers show
Proportion of students at the end of lower secondary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading, non-immigrant background, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 51 countries. The highest value is 89.6% in Ireland; the lowest is 21.3% in Jordan.
The median across all reporting countries is 76.6%, and the mean is 67.6%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 4.
Over the past decade 7 countries rose and 44 fell. The largest increase was in Qatar (up 34.7%), and the largest decrease in Jordan (down 57.6%).
Proportion of students at the end of lower secondary education: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ireland | 89.6% | 2022 | down 1.6% | flat |
| 2 | Singapore | 88.4% | 2022 | down 2.0% | flat |
| 3 | Republic of Korea | 85.8% | 2022 | down 7.3% | falling |
| 4 | Denmark | 84.0% | 2022 | down 4.7% | flat |
| 5 | Hong Kong, China | 83.9% | 2022 | down 10.1% | falling |
| 6 | Sweden | 83.3% | 2022 | up 1.8% | falling |
| 7 | Canada | 82.6% | 2022 | down 8.7% | falling |
| 8 | United States of America | 82.0% | 2022 | down 3.6% | flat |
| 9 | Finland | 81.9% | 2022 | down 9.3% | falling |
| 10 | Germany | 81.5% | 2022 | down 8.6% | flat |
| 11 | New Zealand | 81.3% | 2022 | down 5.2% | falling |
| 12 | Austria | 81.3% | 2022 | down 3.1% | flat |
| 13 | Italy | 80.5% | 2022 | down 2.9% | flat |
| 14 | Belgium | 80.0% | 2022 | down 8.9% | falling |
| 15 | Luxembourg | 79.7% | 2018 | down 3.5% | flat |
| 16 | Czechia | 79.7% | 2022 | down 4.6% | flat |
| 17 | Poland | 79.2% | 2022 | down 11.7% | flat |
| 18 | Australia | 78.9% | 2022 | down 8.9% | falling |
| 19 | Spain | 78.7% | 2022 | down 6.5% | flat |
| 19 | Portugal | 78.7% | 2022 | down 5.9% | rising |
| 21 | Croatia | 78.5% | 2022 | down 4.5% | flat |
| 22 | Russian Federation | 78.2% | 2018 | up 5.0% | rising |
| 23 | Latvia | 78.0% | 2022 | down 6.6% | flat |
| 24 | France | 77.4% | 2022 | down 8.8% | falling |
| 25 | Norway | 76.9% | 2022 | down 11.1% | flat |
| 26 | Slovenia | 76.6% | 2022 | down 5.2% | flat |
| 26 | Lithuania | 76.6% | 2022 | down 3.6% | flat |
| 28 | Hungary | 74.5% | 2022 | down 7.7% | falling |
| 29 | Israel | 73.9% | 2022 | down 4.6% | rising |
| 30 | Türkiye | 71.7% | 2022 | down 9.1% | rising |
| 31 | Netherlands | 71.6% | 2022 | down 19.0% | falling |
| 32 | Chile | 68.6% | 2022 | up 1.6% | rising |
| 33 | Slovakia | 66.3% | 2022 | down 8.3% | falling |
| 34 | Greece | 66.3% | 2022 | down 16.8% | falling |
| 35 | Serbia | 63.7% | 2022 | down 5.0% | rising |
| 36 | Iceland | 63.3% | 2022 | down 22.0% | falling |
| 37 | Uruguay | 60.1% | 2022 | up 11.5% | flat |
| 38 | Romania | 59.8% | 2022 | down 5.0% | rising |
| 39 | Costa Rica | 55.2% | 2022 | down 19.8% | falling |
| 40 | Mexico | 54.9% | 2022 | down 8.9% | flat |
| 41 | Brazil | 52.8% | 2022 | up 3.9% | rising |
| 42 | Colombia | 51.4% | 2022 | up 4.1% | rising |
| 43 | Bulgaria | 50.2% | 2022 | down 19.4% | falling |
| 44 | Argentina | 46.8% | 2022 | down 1.5% | falling |
| 45 | Qatar | 36.0% | 2022 | up 34.7% | rising |
| 46 | United Arab Emirates | 35.7% | 2022 | down 31.9% | falling |
| 47 | Thailand | 35.7% | 2022 | down 47.3% | falling |
| 48 | Tunisia | 30.0% | 2015 | down 27.9% | falling |
| 49 | Albania | 29.4% | 2022 | down 38.4% | rising |
| 50 | Indonesia | 26.2% | 2022 | down 42.1% | falling |
| 51 | Jordan | 21.3% | 2022 | down 57.6% | falling |
About this data
February 2026 Data Release