Literacy rate, adult female in Middle income
Middle income: Literacy rate, adult female was 84.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Literacy rate, adult female in Middle income, 1975–2024
Source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Measured in % of females ages 15 and above.
Analysis
In 2024, literacy rate, adult female in Middle income stood at 84.4%. That is the highest value across all 50 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.4% on the previous year and up 4.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, literacy rate, adult female in Middle income peaked at 84.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 47.6%, in 1975.
That places Middle income 18th out of 39 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 50 years of available data.
Literacy rate, adult female in Middle income, year by year
| Year | % of females ages 15 and above | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1975 | 47.6% | — |
| 1976 | 47.8% | +0.5% |
| 1977 | 48.3% | +0.9% |
| 1978 | 49.2% | +2.0% |
| 1979 | 50.3% | +2.1% |
| 1980 | 51.2% | +1.9% |
| 1981 | 52.2% | +1.8% |
| 1982 | 53.1% | +1.8% |
| 1983 | 54.0% | +1.7% |
| 1984 | 55.1% | +2.0% |
| 1985 | 56.0% | +1.7% |
| 1986 | 56.9% | +1.6% |
| 1987 | 57.9% | +1.8% |
| 1988 | 60.4% | +4.2% |
| 1989 | 61.2% | +1.3% |
| 1990 | 62.0% | +1.4% |
| 1991 | 62.8% | +1.2% |
| 1992 | 63.6% | +1.2% |
| 1993 | 64.3% | +1.1% |
| 1994 | 65.1% | +1.2% |
| 1995 | 65.9% | +1.2% |
| 1996 | 66.6% | +1.2% |
| 1997 | 70.4% | +5.7% |
| 1998 | 72.1% | +2.3% |
| 1999 | 72.7% | +0.9% |
| 2000 | 73.1% | +0.5% |
| 2001 | 73.6% | +0.7% |
| 2002 | 74.2% | +0.8% |
| 2003 | 74.8% | +0.9% |
| 2004 | 75.4% | +0.7% |
| 2005 | 75.2% | -0.2% |
| 2006 | 75.5% | +0.4% |
| 2007 | 76.5% | +1.4% |
| 2008 | 77.1% | +0.7% |
| 2009 | 77.7% | +0.7% |
| 2010 | 78.8% | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 79.2% | +0.5% |
| 2012 | 79.5% | +0.4% |
| 2013 | 80.0% | +0.6% |
| 2014 | 80.6% | +0.8% |
| 2015 | 81.2% | +0.7% |
| 2016 | 81.7% | +0.6% |
| 2017 | 82.0% | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 82.5% | +0.7% |
| 2019 | 82.7% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 83.1% | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 83.4% | +0.4% |
| 2022 | 83.8% | +0.5% |
| 2023 | 84.1% | +0.4% |
| 2024 | 84.4% | +0.4% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 48.6% | 47.6% | 50.3% | 5 |
| 1980s | 55.8% | 51.2% | 61.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 66.6% | 62.0% | 72.7% | 10 |
| 2000s | 75.3% | 73.1% | 77.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 80.8% | 78.8% | 82.7% | 10 |
| 2020s | 83.7% | 83.1% | 84.4% | 5 |
Countries ranked near Middle income
More gender data for Middle income
- Labor force, female 1.06 billion (2025)
- Labor force, female, per capita 0.1753 units per person (2025)
- Labor force, female, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Labor force, female, annual growth rate 1.06 % change on previous year (2025)
- Labor force, female, per square kilometre 16.27 units per square kilometre (2023)
- Ratio of female to male youth unemployment rate (% ages 15-24) 118.1% (2025)
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, female 12.5 years (2019)
- School life expectancy, primary to tertiary, male 12.34 years (2019)
- Proportion of women in ministerial level positions 19.3% (2025)
- Own-account workers, female (% of female employment) 29.4% (2016)
Frequently asked questions
- What is literacy rate, adult female in Middle income?
- Literacy rate, adult female in Middle income was 84.4% in 2024, according to Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
- What is the highest literacy rate, adult female recorded in Middle income?
- The highest recorded value was 84.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest literacy rate, adult female recorded in Middle income?
- The lowest recorded value was 47.6% in 1975.
- How does Middle income rank for literacy rate, adult female?
- Middle income ranks 18th out of 39 groups with data for 2024.
- Is literacy rate, adult female rising or falling in Middle income?
- Over the last ten years it is up 4.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Middle income data come from?
- The figures come from Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), published as part of Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 50 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.