Literacy rate — all countries

Literacy rate — Europe & Central Asia

Literacy rate in Europe & Central Asia in 2023 — 98.77%. Since 1994, the indicator has risen by 2.97 pp.

2023 98.77% +0.02 pp vs 2022
World rank
Period maximum 98.77%2023
Period minimum 95.8%1994

Trend over time

1994–2023 · % of population aged 15+

Literacy rate — Europe & Central Asia, 1994–20239596979899199419972000200320062009201220152018202120231994: 95.8%1995: 95.95%1996: 96.13%1997: 96.26%1998: 96.42%1999: 96.54%2000: 96.64%2002: 96.9%2003: 96.99%2004: 97.07%2005: 97.19%2006: 97.25%2007: 97.33%2008: 97.45%2009: 97.71%2010: 97.87%2011: 98.02%2012: 98.12%2013: 98.18%2014: 98.22%2015: 98.27%2016: 98.33%2017: 98.41%2018: 98.5%2019: 98.57%2020: 98.61%2021: 98.74%2022: 98.75%2023: 98.77%
Change over the period: +2.97 pp Annual average: 0.1 pp

Comparison, 2023

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: Europe & Central Asia

Europe & Central Asia 98.77%
World 87.58%
Literacy rate — Europe & Central Asia, by year Europe & Central Asia All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2023 98.77 +0.02 pp
2022 98.75 +0.01 pp
2021 98.74 +0.13 pp
2020 98.61 +0.04 pp
2019 98.57 +0.07 pp
2018 98.5 +0.09 pp
2017 98.41 +0.08 pp
2016 98.33 +0.06 pp
2015 98.27 +0.05 pp
2014 98.22 +0.04 pp
2013 98.18 +0.06 pp
2012 98.12 +0.1 pp
2011 98.02 +0.15 pp
2010 97.87 +0.16 pp
2009 97.71 +0.26 pp
2008 97.45 +0.12 pp
2007 97.33 +0.08 pp
2006 97.25 +0.06 pp
2005 97.19 +0.12 pp
2004 97.07 +0.08 pp
2003 96.99 +0.09 pp
2002 96.9
2000 96.64 +0.1 pp
1999 96.54 +0.12 pp
1998 96.42 +0.16 pp
1997 96.26 +0.13 pp
1996 96.13 +0.18 pp
1995 95.95 +0.15 pp
1994 95.8

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.