Youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female in Latin America & Caribbean
Latin America & Caribbean: Youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female was 42.7% in 2019. ▼ Falling
Youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female in Latin America & Caribbean, 1974–2019
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/).
Analysis
In 2019, youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female in Latin America & Caribbean stood at 42.7%. That is the lowest value across all 46 years on record.
That represents a change of down 0.5% on the previous year and down 6.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female in Latin America & Caribbean peaked at 53.6% in 1974 and was at its lowest, 42.7%, in 2019.
That places Latin America & Caribbean 36th out of 39 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 46 years of available data.
Youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female in Latin America & Caribbean, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 53.6% | — |
| 1975 | 53.6% | -0.0% |
| 1976 | 53.1% | -0.9% |
| 1977 | 52.4% | -1.3% |
| 1978 | 51.6% | -1.5% |
| 1979 | 50.8% | -1.6% |
| 1980 | 50.0% | -1.6% |
| 1981 | 49.2% | -1.6% |
| 1982 | 48.4% | -1.6% |
| 1983 | 47.6% | -1.7% |
| 1984 | 46.8% | -1.7% |
| 1985 | 46.0% | -1.7% |
| 1986 | 45.3% | -1.5% |
| 1987 | 45.2% | -0.2% |
| 1988 | 44.7% | -1.1% |
| 1989 | 43.9% | -1.9% |
| 1990 | 43.0% | -2.0% |
| 1991 | 43.2% | +0.5% |
| 1992 | 43.5% | +0.7% |
| 1993 | 44.0% | +1.2% |
| 1994 | 44.7% | +1.5% |
| 1995 | 45.5% | +1.9% |
| 1996 | 45.3% | -0.4% |
| 1997 | 45.7% | +0.9% |
| 1998 | 45.6% | -0.2% |
| 1999 | 45.2% | -1.0% |
| 2000 | 44.8% | -0.8% |
| 2001 | 44.8% | +0.0% |
| 2002 | 45.0% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 45.2% | +0.4% |
| 2004 | 44.2% | -2.3% |
| 2005 | 43.9% | -0.6% |
| 2006 | 46.4% | +5.6% |
| 2007 | 45.4% | -2.1% |
| 2008 | 45.4% | +0.0% |
| 2009 | 45.6% | +0.5% |
| 2010 | 43.5% | -4.7% |
| 2011 | 43.4% | -0.2% |
| 2012 | 43.5% | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 44.0% | +1.0% |
| 2014 | 43.8% | -0.3% |
| 2015 | 43.5% | -0.7% |
| 2016 | 42.9% | -1.4% |
| 2017 | 43.2% | +0.6% |
| 2018 | 42.9% | -0.7% |
| 2019 | 42.7% | -0.5% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 52.5% | 50.8% | 53.6% | 6 |
| 1980s | 46.7% | 43.9% | 50.0% | 10 |
| 1990s | 44.6% | 43.0% | 45.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 45.1% | 43.9% | 46.4% | 10 |
| 2010s | 43.3% | 42.7% | 44.0% | 10 |
Countries ranked near Latin America & Caribbean
More education data for Latin America & Caribbean
- Population ages 15-64 67.7% (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0928 units per person (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -0.1923 % change on previous year (2024)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 61.44 million (2024)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, teachers, gaps filled 3.34 million (2024)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 63.30 million (2024)
- Population ages 0-14 22.1% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female in Latin America & Caribbean was 42.7% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/).
- What is the highest youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The highest recorded value was 53.6% in 1974.
- What is the lowest youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female recorded in Latin America & Caribbean?
- The lowest recorded value was 42.7% in 2019.
- How does Latin America & Caribbean rank for youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female?
- Latin America & Caribbean ranks 36th out of 39 groups with data for 2019.
- Is youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female rising or falling in Latin America & Caribbean?
- Over the last ten years it is down 6.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Latin America & Caribbean data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/), published as part of Youth illiterate population, 15-24 years, % female. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 46 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Share of the youth illiterate population that is female.