Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa: Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index was 0.7672 GPIA in 2019. ▲ Rising

Latest (2019)
0.7672 GPIA
Change on year
up 0.6%
Rank
27th
of 36 groups
All-time high
0.7672 GPIA
in 2019
All-time low
0.5553 GPIA
in 1984
Years of data
36
1984–2019

Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1984–2019

00.20.40.60.81984200120191984: 0.555 GPIA1985: 0.558 GPIA1986: 0.562 GPIA1987: 0.568 GPIA1988: 0.575 GPIA1989: 0.578 GPIA1990: 0.585 GPIA1991: 0.594 GPIA1992: 0.593 GPIA1993: 0.599 GPIA1994: 0.606 GPIA1995: 0.616 GPIA1996: 0.626 GPIA1997: 0.637 GPIA1998: 0.645 GPIA1999: 0.654 GPIA2000: 0.649 GPIA2001: 0.657 GPIA2002: 0.655 GPIA2003: 0.664 GPIA2004: 0.665 GPIA2005: 0.668 GPIA2006: 0.711 GPIA2007: 0.681 GPIA2008: 0.687 GPIA2009: 0.689 GPIA2010: 0.697 GPIA2011: 0.709 GPIA2012: 0.719 GPIA2013: 0.726 GPIA2014: 0.734 GPIA2015: 0.742 GPIA2016: 0.75 GPIA2017: 0.757 GPIA2018: 0.763 GPIA2019: 0.767 GPIA

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in GPIA.

Analysis

Sub-Saharan Africa recorded 0.7672 GPIA for literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in 2019. That is the highest value across all 36 years on record.

The figure is up 0.6% on the previous year and up 11.4% over ten years.

Over the whole period, literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in Sub-Saharan Africa peaked at 0.7672 GPIA in 2019 and was at its lowest, 0.5553 GPIA, in 1984.

That places Sub-Saharan Africa 27th out of 36 groups with data for 2019, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 36 years of available data.

Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in Sub-Saharan Africa, year by year

Annual values for Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA) in Sub-Saharan Africa, 1984 to 2019.
Year GPIA Change
1984 0.5553 GPIA
1985 0.558 GPIA +0.5%
1986 0.5622 GPIA +0.7%
1987 0.5681 GPIA +1.0%
1988 0.575 GPIA +1.2%
1989 0.578 GPIA +0.5%
1990 0.5853 GPIA +1.3%
1991 0.5936 GPIA +1.4%
1992 0.5927 GPIA -0.1%
1993 0.5993 GPIA +1.1%
1994 0.6063 GPIA +1.2%
1995 0.616 GPIA +1.6%
1996 0.6255 GPIA +1.6%
1997 0.6368 GPIA +1.8%
1998 0.645 GPIA +1.3%
1999 0.6535 GPIA +1.3%
2000 0.649 GPIA -0.7%
2001 0.6567 GPIA +1.2%
2002 0.6547 GPIA -0.3%
2003 0.6637 GPIA +1.4%
2004 0.6649 GPIA +0.2%
2005 0.6676 GPIA +0.4%
2006 0.7114 GPIA +6.6%
2007 0.6809 GPIA -4.3%
2008 0.6868 GPIA +0.9%
2009 0.6886 GPIA +0.3%
2010 0.6969 GPIA +1.2%
2011 0.7093 GPIA +1.8%
2012 0.7194 GPIA +1.4%
2013 0.7261 GPIA +0.9%
2014 0.7345 GPIA +1.1%
2015 0.7424 GPIA +1.1%
2016 0.75 GPIA +1.0%
2017 0.7567 GPIA +0.9%
2018 0.7628 GPIA +0.8%
2019 0.7672 GPIA +0.6%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1980s 0.5661 GPIA 0.5553 GPIA 0.578 GPIA 6
1990s 0.6154 GPIA 0.5853 GPIA 0.6535 GPIA 10
2000s 0.6724 GPIA 0.649 GPIA 0.7114 GPIA 10
2010s 0.7365 GPIA 0.6969 GPIA 0.7672 GPIA 10

Countries ranked near Sub-Saharan Africa

  1. 24 Azerbaijan 0.999 GPIA compare
  2. 25 Brunei 0.9984 GPIA compare
  3. 26 Jordan 0.9973 GPIA compare
  4. 27 Sri Lanka 0.9971 GPIA compare
  5. 28 Albania 0.9963 GPIA compare
  6. 29 South Africa 0.9961 GPIA compare
  7. 30 Montenegro 0.996 GPIA compare

See the full ranking of 120 places →

More reference data data for Sub-Saharan Africa

All data for Sub-Saharan Africa →

Frequently asked questions

What is literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in Sub-Saharan Africa was 0.7672 GPIA in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
What is the highest literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The highest recorded value was 0.7672 GPIA in 2019.
What is the lowest literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index recorded in Sub-Saharan Africa?
The lowest recorded value was 0.5553 GPIA in 1984.
How does Sub-Saharan Africa rank for literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index?
Sub-Saharan Africa ranks 27th out of 36 groups with data for 2019.
Is literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index rising or falling in Sub-Saharan Africa?
Over the last ten years it is up 11.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Sub-Saharan Africa data come from?
The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index in Sub-Saharan Africa. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 29 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/literacy-rate-population-25-64-years-adjusted-gender-parity-index-gpia/sub-saharan-africa/

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About this data

Indicator
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, adjusted gender parity index (GPIA)
Unit
GPIA
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
120 places, 2,155 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/