Infographics: Adult Literacy Rate In West Africa

According to a 2020 study referenced by Statista, West African countries have some of the world’s shortest school attendance and adult literacy rates.

If you live in developed countries in the global north, it is oftentimes rare to find people above 15 years who cannot read or write. Unfortunately, not all nations have this luxury. Developed nations as a whole have a literacy rate of 99.2% and global rates of 86.3%.

Global literacy rates for men stand at 90%, while females lag at just 82.7%. This means that of all the illiterate adults in the world, nearly two-thirds are female.

West Africa has countries with some of the lowest literacy rates in the world. For instance in Niger, only 19% of its population can read or write. More than one-quarter of the men in the country are literate, while only 11% of females are literate.

The developed nations of the world have much higher literacy rates with smaller gaps – if any – between the genders. Thirty-one nations reported literacy rates of 99.0% or above. Four countries reported 100% literacy among their people. They include Andorra, Greenland, North Korea, Uzbekistan.