Literacy rate — all countries

Literacy rate — North America

Literacy rate in North America in 2022 — 98.79%. Since 2003, the indicator has risen by 0.17 pp.

2022 98.79% +0 pp vs 2021
World rank
Period maximum 98.79%2021
Period minimum 98.62%2003

Trend over time

2003–2022 · % of population aged 15+

Literacy rate — North America, 2003–202298.698.6598.798.7598.8200320052007200920112013201520172019202120222003: 98.62%2004: 98.63%2005: 98.64%2006: 98.66%2007: 98.67%2008: 98.69%2017: 98.75%2018: 98.76%2019: 98.76%2020: 98.77%2021: 98.79%2022: 98.79%
Change over the period: +0.17 pp Annual average: 0.01 pp

Comparison, 2022

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

North America 98.79%
World 87.39%
Literacy rate — North America, by year North America All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2022 98.79 +0 pp
2021 98.79 +0.02 pp
2020 98.77 +0.01 pp
2019 98.76 +0 pp
2018 98.76 +0.01 pp
2017 98.75
2008 98.69 +0.02 pp
2007 98.67 +0.01 pp
2006 98.66 +0.02 pp
2005 98.64 +0.01 pp
2004 98.63 +0.01 pp
2003 98.62

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.