Literacy rate in the United Arab Emirates in 2024 — 98.81%. Ranked 3 in the world out of 29. Since 1975, the indicator has risen by 45.3 pp.
1975–2024 · % of population aged 15+
How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: United Arab Emirates
| Year | % | Change, pp |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 98.81 | +0.75 pp |
| 2023 | 98.06 | −0.23 pp |
| 2022 | 98.29 | +0.16 pp |
| 2021 | 98.13 | — |
| 2019 | 97.78 | — |
| 2005 | 90.03 | — |
| 1985 | 71.24 | — |
| 1975 | 53.51 | — |
The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages
Georgia
99.68
United Arab Emirates
98.81
Palestine
97.94
Saudi Arabia
97.93
Bahrain
97.82
Jordan
94.44
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 Population with tertiary educationWhat share of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
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.