Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World

World: Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity was 0.9232 GPIA in 2019. ▲ Rising

Latest (2019)
0.9232 GPIA
Change on year
up 0.2%
Rank
1st
of 1 groups
All-time high
0.9232 GPIA
in 2019
All-time low
0.7737 GPIA
in 1976
Years of data
44
1976–2019

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World, 1976–2019

00.20.40.60.811976199720191976: 0.774 GPIA1977: 0.775 GPIA1978: 0.778 GPIA1979: 0.782 GPIA1980: 0.784 GPIA1981: 0.79 GPIA1982: 0.792 GPIA1983: 0.797 GPIA1984: 0.802 GPIA1985: 0.805 GPIA1986: 0.809 GPIA1987: 0.813 GPIA1988: 0.824 GPIA1989: 0.828 GPIA1990: 0.831 GPIA1991: 0.836 GPIA1992: 0.837 GPIA1993: 0.839 GPIA1994: 0.842 GPIA1995: 0.846 GPIA1996: 0.849 GPIA1997: 0.87 GPIA1998: 0.872 GPIA1999: 0.874 GPIA2000: 0.875 GPIA2001: 0.879 GPIA2002: 0.88 GPIA2003: 0.882 GPIA2004: 0.884 GPIA2005: 0.883 GPIA2006: 0.89 GPIA2007: 0.892 GPIA2008: 0.894 GPIA2009: 0.897 GPIA2010: 0.904 GPIA2011: 0.908 GPIA2012: 0.909 GPIA2013: 0.91 GPIA2014: 0.914 GPIA2015: 0.915 GPIA2016: 0.918 GPIA2017: 0.92 GPIA2018: 0.921 GPIA2019: 0.923 GPIA

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.

Analysis

The most recent figure for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World is 0.9232 GPIA, measured in 2019. That is the highest value across all 44 years on record.

That represents a change of up 0.2% on the previous year and up 3.0% over ten years.

Over the whole period, adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World peaked at 0.9232 GPIA in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.7737 GPIA, in 1976.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 44 years of available data.

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World, year by year

Annual values for Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA) in World, 1976 to 2019.
Year GPIA Change
1976 0.7737 GPIA
1977 0.7746 GPIA +0.1%
1978 0.7782 GPIA +0.5%
1979 0.7817 GPIA +0.4%
1980 0.7843 GPIA +0.3%
1981 0.7896 GPIA +0.7%
1982 0.7924 GPIA +0.3%
1983 0.797 GPIA +0.6%
1984 0.8016 GPIA +0.6%
1985 0.8055 GPIA +0.5%
1986 0.8089 GPIA +0.4%
1987 0.8126 GPIA +0.5%
1988 0.8243 GPIA +1.4%
1989 0.8278 GPIA +0.4%
1990 0.831 GPIA +0.4%
1991 0.8358 GPIA +0.6%
1992 0.8371 GPIA +0.2%
1993 0.8391 GPIA +0.2%
1994 0.8423 GPIA +0.4%
1995 0.8458 GPIA +0.4%
1996 0.8492 GPIA +0.4%
1997 0.8703 GPIA +2.5%
1998 0.8715 GPIA +0.1%
1999 0.8742 GPIA +0.3%
2000 0.8755 GPIA +0.1%
2001 0.8788 GPIA +0.4%
2002 0.8801 GPIA +0.1%
2003 0.8822 GPIA +0.2%
2004 0.8841 GPIA +0.2%
2005 0.8827 GPIA -0.2%
2006 0.8897 GPIA +0.8%
2007 0.8922 GPIA +0.3%
2008 0.8938 GPIA +0.2%
2009 0.8966 GPIA +0.3%
2010 0.9043 GPIA +0.9%
2011 0.9081 GPIA +0.4%
2012 0.909 GPIA +0.1%
2013 0.9102 GPIA +0.1%
2014 0.9139 GPIA +0.4%
2015 0.9154 GPIA +0.2%
2016 0.9178 GPIA +0.3%
2017 0.9203 GPIA +0.3%
2018 0.9214 GPIA +0.1%
2019 0.9232 GPIA +0.2%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1970s 0.777 GPIA 0.7737 GPIA 0.7817 GPIA 4
1980s 0.8044 GPIA 0.7843 GPIA 0.8278 GPIA 10
1990s 0.8496 GPIA 0.831 GPIA 0.8742 GPIA 10
2000s 0.8856 GPIA 0.8755 GPIA 0.8966 GPIA 10
2010s 0.9143 GPIA 0.9043 GPIA 0.9232 GPIA 10

Countries ranked near World

  1. 1 Malta 1.03 GPIA compare
  2. 2 Qatar 1.02 GPIA compare
  3. 3 Seychelles 1.01 GPIA compare
  4. 4 Maldives 1.01 GPIA compare

See the full ranking of 124 places →

More reference data data for World

All data for World →

Frequently asked questions

What is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World?
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World was 0.9232 GPIA in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity recorded in World?
The highest recorded value was 0.9232 GPIA in 2019.
What is the lowest adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity recorded in World?
The lowest recorded value was 0.7737 GPIA in 1976.
How does World rank for adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity?
World ranks 1st out of 1 groups with data for 2019.
Is adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity rising or falling in World?
Over the last ten years it is up 3.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this World 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 — 44 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 World. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 28 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/adult-literacy-rate-population-15-years-adjusted-gender-parity-index-gpia/world/

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/world/">Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, adjusted gender parity in World</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/