News

Top 10 African Countries With Lowest Literacy Rates

Top 10 African Countries With Lowest Literacy Rates | GlobalCurrent24.com

DataPandas reports on the top 10 African countries with the lowest literacy rates in 2024.
Literacy is now recognized as a critical component of individual empowerment, society growth, and economic success.

Key Highlights

GlobalCurrent24.com presents the top 10 African countries with lowest literacy rates.
Niger tops the lists with an illiteracy rate of 19%
This list is courtesy DataPandas

Literacy has been high on the development agenda of government institutions for decades, but many people in many parts of Africa are still unable to read and write.

This article focuses on the African countries with the highest rates of illiteracy, investigating the underlying causes of this critical issue and the ramifications for their futures. To further understand this issue, consider some key facts from DataPandas most recent literacy rate survey.

According to the survey, Finland, Norway, Luxembourg, Andorra, Greenland, Liechtenstein, and Uzbekistan lead the table with 100% literacy rates among their populations. The United States, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark, New Zealand, Ireland, Iceland, and Monaco, among others, follow closely behind with 99% literacy rates.

Seychelles has the highest adult literacy rate in Africa, at approximately 96 percent. Equatorial Guinea and Namibia followed, with literacy rates of 95.20 percent and 90.82 percent, respectively. The average percentage across the continent was around 67%. Furthermore, Southern Africa has the highest literacy rate among African regions.

According to the data, African and Middle Eastern countries have the lowest literacy rates. African countries continue to suffer with startling literacy gaps, with Niger, Guinea, South Sudan, and Mali all having literacy rates lower than the world average.

Niger has the world’s lowest literacy rate, at 19.10%. Guinea follows closely behind, with a literacy rate of 30.47%. South Sudan’s literacy rate is 31.98%, making it the third country on the list. Mali is ranked fourth on the list, with a literacy rate of 33.07%, and the Central African Republic closes out the top five.