1820 (12%)1900 (20%)1960 (42%)1976 (65.66%)1980 (67.85%)1985 (70.86%)1990 (74.91%)1995 (76.91%)2000 (80.98%)2005 (82.45%)2010 (84.23%)2015 (85.68%)2023 (87.36%) ..

Higher   Equal to   Lower

Literacy rate of each country compared to historical global literacy rate. This chart answers the question “Is my country currently more literate than the world in 1950 ?”

Updated 2025-07-04.