Proportion of students at the end of primary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading, both sexes (%) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
19
Highest
98.4%
Russian Federation
Lowest
40.6%
Morocco
Median
94.4%
Years covered
22
2000–2021
Data points
275
What the numbers show
Proportion of students at the end of primary education achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 19 countries. The highest value is 98.4% in Russian Federation; the lowest is 40.6% in Morocco.
The median across all reporting countries is 94.4%, and the mean is 90.0%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 3 countries rose and 16 fell. The largest increase was in Morocco (up 93.1%), and the largest decrease in Iran, Islamic Republic of (down 22.6%).
Proportion of students at the end of primary education achieving at: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russian Federation | 98.4% | 2021 | down 0.7% | flat |
| 2 | Hong Kong, China | 98.3% | 2021 | down 0.9% | flat |
| 3 | Italy | 97.2% | 2021 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 4 | Lithuania | 97.1% | 2021 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 5 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 97.0% | 2021 | up 1.7% | flat |
| 6 | Singapore | 96.7% | 2021 | down 0.1% | rising |
| 7 | Netherlands | 96.4% | 2021 | down 3.1% | flat |
| 8 | Sweden | 95.3% | 2021 | down 2.4% | flat |
| 9 | United States of America | 94.5% | 2021 | down 3.1% | flat |
| 10 | Slovenia | 94.4% | 2021 | down 1.2% | flat |
| 11 | Hungary | 94.1% | 2021 | down 0.5% | flat |
| 12 | France | 93.9% | 2021 | down 1.5% | flat |
| 13 | Slovakia | 93.7% | 2021 | down 2.2% | flat |
| 14 | Germany | 93.6% | 2021 | down 4.1% | flat |
| 15 | Bulgaria | 92.9% | 2021 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 16 | New Zealand | 89.9% | 2021 | down 2.0% | flat |
| 17 | Israel | 88.0% | 2021 | down 5.6% | flat |
| 18 | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 58.6% | 2021 | down 22.6% | rising |
| 19 | Morocco | 40.6% | 2021 | up 93.1% | 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 96.9%
- WB: High Income (july 2025) 92.8%
- SDG: World 58.1%
- WB: Lower Middle Income (july 2025) 53.6%
- WB: Upper Middle Income (july 2025) 52.4%
- SDG: Latin America and the Caribbean 42.6%
- GPE: Overall Fy24, All 90 Countries, December 2024 41.0%
- SDG: Sub-saharan Africa 30.2%
- WB: Low Income (july 2025) 16.8%
About this data
February 2026 Data Release