Share of students achieving minimum reading proficiency by the end of lower secondary education by country
Share of students who achieve minimum reading proficiency by the end of lower secondary education. This data includes only students enrolled in school.
What the numbers show
Share of students achieving minimum reading proficiency by the end of lower secondary education 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%).
Share of students achieving minimum reading proficiency by 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 | Macao | 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 | 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 | 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 |
About this data
Share of students who achieve minimum reading proficiency by the end of lower secondary education. This data includes only students enrolled in school.