Literacy rate — all countries

Literacy rate — Ethiopia

Literacy rate in Ethiopia in 2022 — 60.46%. Ranked 41 in the world out of 45. Since 1994, the indicator has risen by 33.45 pp.

2022 60.46% +5.57 pp vs 2021
World rank 41of 45
Period maximum 60.46%2022
Period minimum 27.01%1994

Trend over time

1994–2022 · % of population aged 15+

Literacy rate — Ethiopia, 1994–202220304050607019941997200020032006200920122015201820211994: 27.01%2004: 35.9%2007: 39%2013: 48.35%2016: 47.49%2019: 55.05%2021: 54.89%2022: 60.46%
Change over the period: +33.45 pp Annual average: 1.19 pp

Comparison, 2022

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: Ethiopia

Ethiopia 60.46%
World 87.39%
Literacy rate — Ethiopia, by year Ethiopia All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2022 60.46 +5.57 pp
2021 54.89
2019 55.05
2016 47.49
2013 48.35
2007 39
2004 35.9
1994 27.01

Eastern Africa, 2022

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

About the indicator

The share of the population aged 15 and older able to read and write a short simple statement about their everyday life. The UNESCO definition is deliberately minimal — it is the threshold of functional literacy, not an assessment of the quality of education. In most countries the data come from censuses and surveys, so they are updated irregularly.

Important: The series is incomplete: values are published only for the years in which a census or a literacy survey was conducted.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), license CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.