Chapter: Gist of Press Information Bureau Articles

Topic: International Literacy Day

Q. Some facts/ data about world literacy?

• About 796 million adults worldwide were reported not being able to read and write

• Two-thirds of them (64%) were women

• The global adult literacy rate was 83%, with a male literacy rate of 88% and a female literacy rate of 79%

• More than half of those unable to read and write – 412 million – lived in South Asia.

• A further 176 million adults were in sub-Saharan Africa. Together, these two regions accounted for three-quarters (74%) of adults unable to read and write worldwide

• In almost all countries, youth literacy rates (i.e. for the population aged 15-24 years) were higher than adult literacy rates

• 131 million youth worldwide lacked basic reading and writing skills among this group, 61% were female. A comparison of this share to the female share among adults (64%) indicates a move toward gender parity in literacy

• The global youth literacy rate was 89% (92% for males and 86% for females) ’” Similar to the adult population, youth unable to read and write were also concentrated in the same two regions. Southern Asia (66 million youth) and sub-Saharan Africa (47 million) were home to 86% of all youths unable to read and write worldwide.

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