Global Literacy Rate Reaches Record 87% — Highest Ever Recorded

New UNESCO figures show reading and writing has spread further and faster than any other skill in human history — with women's literacy driving most of the gains.

The share of adults worldwide who can read and write has reached a record 87 percent, according to newly compiled UNESCO figures — the highest literacy rate ever recorded.

In 1960, adult literacy was around 42 percent. The doubling since then represents one of the largest sustained skills expansions in human history.

Most of the recent gains are driven by women's literacy, which was historically much lower than men's. The global gender gap in literacy has narrowed from 12 percentage points in 2000 to under 5 today.

South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are the fastest-improving regions. Bangladesh, for example, has seen female literacy rates more than double in twenty years, driven by combined efforts of NGOs, cash transfers to families sending girls to school, and government schooling programs.

The UNESCO report cautions that quality of instruction remains uneven, and that basic literacy does not always translate into functional reading comprehension.

Still, the underlying trend is one that receives comparatively little media attention. "We are the most literate humans in history," the report's authors write. "That is worth stating plainly."