Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD): Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity was 0.8425 GPIA in 2019. ▲ Rising

Latest (2019)
0.8425 GPIA
Change on year
up 0.3%
Rank
24th
of 37 groups
All-time high
0.8489 GPIA
in 2017
All-time low
0.4536 GPIA
in 1972
Years of data
48
1972–2019

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD), 1972–2019

00.20.40.60.8197219952019

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.

Analysis

The most recent figure for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) is 0.8425 GPIA, measured in 2019.

That represents a change of up 0.3% on the previous year and up 5.1% over ten years.

Over the whole period, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) peaked at 0.8489 GPIA in 2017 and was at its lowest, 0.4536 GPIA, in 1972.

Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) ranks 24th of 37 groups on this measure, in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 48 years of available data.

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD), year by year

Annual values for Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA) in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD), 1972 to 2019.
Year GPIA Change
1972 0.4536 GPIA
1973 0.4589 GPIA +1.2%
1974 0.4644 GPIA +1.2%
1975 0.4703 GPIA +1.3%
1976 0.4829 GPIA +2.7%
1977 0.4835 GPIA +0.1%
1978 0.4915 GPIA +1.7%
1979 0.5002 GPIA +1.8%
1980 0.5092 GPIA +1.8%
1981 0.5187 GPIA +1.9%
1982 0.5298 GPIA +2.1%
1983 0.5455 GPIA +3.0%
1984 0.5575 GPIA +2.2%
1985 0.5671 GPIA +1.7%
1986 0.5813 GPIA +2.5%
1987 0.5903 GPIA +1.5%
1988 0.6011 GPIA +1.8%
1989 0.6126 GPIA +1.9%
1990 0.6361 GPIA +3.8%
1991 0.6491 GPIA +2.0%
1992 0.6575 GPIA +1.3%
1993 0.6543 GPIA -0.5%
1994 0.6673 GPIA +2.0%
1995 0.6837 GPIA +2.5%
1996 0.7008 GPIA +2.5%
1997 0.7063 GPIA +0.8%
1998 0.7164 GPIA +1.4%
1999 0.727 GPIA +1.5%
2000 0.737 GPIA +1.4%
2001 0.7453 GPIA +1.1%
2002 0.7484 GPIA +0.4%
2003 0.752 GPIA +0.5%
2004 0.7624 GPIA +1.4%
2005 0.7696 GPIA +0.9%
2006 0.7894 GPIA +2.6%
2007 0.7884 GPIA -0.1%
2008 0.795 GPIA +0.8%
2009 0.8016 GPIA +0.8%
2010 0.8106 GPIA +1.1%
2011 0.8123 GPIA +0.2%
2012 0.8164 GPIA +0.5%
2013 0.8083 GPIA -1.0%
2014 0.825 GPIA +2.1%
2015 0.8289 GPIA +0.5%
2016 0.8343 GPIA +0.7%
2017 0.8489 GPIA +1.7%
2018 0.8398 GPIA -1.1%
2019 0.8425 GPIA +0.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 0.4757 GPIA 0.4536 GPIA 0.5002 GPIA 8
1980s 0.5613 GPIA 0.5092 GPIA 0.6126 GPIA 10
1990s 0.6799 GPIA 0.6361 GPIA 0.727 GPIA 10
2000s 0.7689 GPIA 0.737 GPIA 0.8016 GPIA 10
2010s 0.8267 GPIA 0.8083 GPIA 0.8489 GPIA 10

Countries ranked near Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)

  1. 21 Namibia 0.9979 GPIA compare
  2. 22 Moldova 0.9954 GPIA compare
  3. 23 Albania 0.9924 GPIA compare
  4. 24 Jordan 0.9921 GPIA compare
  5. 25 Spain 0.9904 GPIA compare
  6. 26 Paraguay 0.9896 GPIA compare
  7. 27 Greece 0.9887 GPIA compare

See the full ranking of 124 places →

More reference data data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)

All data for Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) →

Frequently asked questions

What is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)?
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) was 0.8425 GPIA in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)?
The highest recorded value was 0.8489 GPIA in 2017.
What is the lowest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity recorded in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)?
The lowest recorded value was 0.4536 GPIA in 1972.
How does Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) rank for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity?
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) ranks 24th out of 37 groups with data for 2019.
Is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity rising or falling in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)?
Over the last ten years it is up 5.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 48 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD). Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 18 September 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/adult-literacy-rate-population-15-years-adjusted-gender-parity-index-gpia/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan-ida-and-ibrd/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/adult-literacy-rate-population-15-years-adjusted-gender-parity-index-gpia/middle-east-north-africa-afghanistan-and-pakistan-ida-and-ibrd/">Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD)</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA)
Unit
GPIA
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
124 places, 2,183 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

The Adjusted Gender Parity Index (GPIA) is calculated by dividing the female value for the indicator by the male value for the indicator. If the resulting value exceeds 1, the ratio is inverted and subtracted from 2. The adjusted gender parity index is symmetrical around 1 and lies in the range 0-2. An adjusted GPI equal to 1 indicates parity between females and males. In general, a value less than 1 indicates disparity in favor of males and a value greater than 1 indicates disparity in favor of females. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute for Statistics: http://uis.unesco.org/