Adult literacy in Pakistan

Adult literacy in Pakistan: 25.7% in 1981 and 58.9% in 2021, by UNESCO estimates.

Latest, 2021: 58.9%
Since 1981: +33.1 percentage points
World, 2021: 87.2%

Watch it change on the map

% of adults · UNESCO

Estimates, UNESCOWorld

What the numbers say

The highest was 59.1% in 2017, the lowest 25.7% in 1981.

Every year

% of adults · UNESCO

Year	Pakistan	World
2024	–	87.7
2023	–	87.6
2022	–	87.4
2021	58.9	87.2
2020	–	87
2019	58	86.8
2018	57	86.8
2017	59.1	86.5
2016	–	86.3
2015	–	86
2014	57	85.6
2013	55.6	85.2
2012	56.8	84.9
2011	54.7	84.7
2010	55.4	84.4
2009	54.9	83.8
2008	55.5	83.5
2007	52.1	83.1
2006	54.2	82.5
2005	49.9	82.6
2004	–	82.6
2003	–	82.2
2002	–	81.7
2001	–	81.4
2000	–	81.1
1999	–	80.9
1998	42.7	80.5
1997	–	79.3
1996	–	77.3
1995	–	76.9
1994	–	76.4
1993	–	76
1992	–	75.5
1991	–	75.1
1990	–	74.6
1989	–	74.1
1988	–	73.6
1987	–	71.9
1986	–	71.3
1985	–	70.7
1984	–	70.2
1983	–	69.5
1982	–	68.9
1981	25.7	68.4
1980	–	67.8
1979	–	67.2
1978	–	66.5
1977	–	65.9
1976	–	65.6
1975	–	65.4

Good to know

The share of people aged 15 and over who can read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, via the World Bank.
The faint line is the world as a whole, as the same source counts it.

How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time

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