Call Today. Student Login. As a whole, the world has a very high literacy rate, but the literacy rate in countries around the world varies greatly. While the global average literacy rate overall is What contributes to low literacy rates, and which countries come out have the highest rates of literate individuals? Career Institute researchers looked at the literacy rate by country based on the most recently available data to determine which countries have the highest and lowest literacy rates.
Literacy rates in this graphic are defined as the percentage of people over the age of 15 that can read and write. There are 37 countries with a literacy rate of higher than All of these countries are located in Africa. Unfortunately, there are many factors that contribute to low literacy rates in African countries.
Due to poverty in some parts of the continent, instead of going to school, children are sent to work to help their families. The Japan literacy rate is The Mexico literacy rate is slightly lower at The China literacy rate is Impoverished countries generally have lower literacy rates.
Education for children is less available, and many families that are struggling may need their children to work to bring in income to the household, so education is not prioritized.
Some of the poorest countries in the world have the lowest literacy rates. There is also a gap in literacy between males and females. Nearly two-thirds of adults around the world that can't read or write are female.
