Literacy rate in South America in 2020 — 95.3%. Since 2015, the indicator has risen by 1.93 pp.
2015–2020 · % of population aged 15+
How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: South America
| Year | % | Change, pp |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 95.3 | — |
| 2015 | 93.37 | — |
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.
What share of their potential a child born today will manage to realize.
Education Primary completion rateWhat share of children reach the last grade of primary school.
Education Primary school enrollmentThe net enrollment rate: the share of children of school age attending primary school.