Literacy rate — all countries

Literacy rate — Nigeria

Literacy rate in Nigeria in 2024 — 70.41%. Ranked 28 in the world out of 29. Since 1991, the indicator has risen by 14.96 pp.

2024 70.41% +7.25 pp vs 2021
World rank 28of 29
Period maximum 70.41%2024
Period minimum 54.77%2003

Trend over time

1991–2024 · % of population aged 15+

Literacy rate — Nigeria, 1991–20245055606570751991199519992003200720112015201920231991: 55.45%2003: 54.77%2006: 70.2%2016: 58.22%2021: 63.16%2024: 70.41%
Change over the period: +14.96 pp Annual average: 0.45 pp

Comparison, 2024

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

Nigeria 70.41%
World 87.74%
Literacy rate — Nigeria, by year Nigeria All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2024 70.41
2021 63.16
2016 58.22
2006 70.2
2003 54.77
1991 55.45

Western Africa, 2024

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.