Some facts and figures about illiteracy

Being aware of some basic facts and figures about illiteracy will help you better understand the problems of illiteracy in worldwide context.

Here are some basic facts and figures about illiteracy:

• There are approximately one billion nonliterate adults (persons 15 years old and above) in the world today.
• Ninety-eight percent of all nonliterates are in developing nations.
• Two-thirds of all nonliterates are women.
• One-half of all nonliterates are in India and China.
• It is estimated that 30-50 million people are added each year to the numbers of nonliterates.
• Twenty-seven percent of all adults are nonliterate.
• Africa, as a continent, has a literacy rate of less than 50 percent.
• Worldwide, the percentage of adult illiteracy is declining, but the absolute number of nonliterates is increasing.
• In the poorer nations, population growth is believed to be a primary source of growth in the number of nonliterates.

• Fact module: Some facts and figures about illiteracy
• In overview module: General literacy statistics, by Stephen L. Walter
• In overview module: The big picture in literacy, by Stephen L. Walter
• In modular book: Prepare for a literacy program, by Stephen L. Walter, Mary Morgan, and Leah B. Walter
• In bookshelf: Literacy

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 1 October 1999

© 1999 SIL International