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Adult literacy
How well working-age adults read and use written information. 31 countries and economies only — PIAAC has no US state figures, so this measure doesn't appear in state comparisons. The UK row is England and the Belgium row is Flanders, the areas PIAAC surveyed. Each year shown is that survey round's published headline, so the change between 2012 and 2023 runs slightly larger than the OECD's own like-for-like comparison. Poland's 2023 sample had a low response rate.
Not to be confused with Pupil performance. Pupil performance tests 15-year-olds in school (PISA); this tests adults aged 16-65 (PIAAC).
Darker = better (higher), by rank · 31 countries · OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC) · tap a country to pin it here
Countries
31 · OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)- 1stFinland296
- 2ndJapan289
- 3rdSweden284
- 4thNorway281
- 5thNetherlands279
- 6thEstonia276
- 7thBelgium275
- 8thDenmark273
- 9thUnited Kingdom272
- 10thCanada271
- 11thSwitzerland266
- 12thGermany266
- 13thIreland263
- 14thCzechia260
- 15thNew Zealand260
- 16thUnited States258
- 17thFrance255
- 18thSingapore255
- 19thAustria254
- 20thCroatia254
- 21stSlovakia254
- 22ndSouth Korea249
- 23rdHungary248
- 24thLatvia248
- 25thSpain247
- 26thItaly245
- 27thIsrael244
- 28thLithuania238
- 29thPoland236
- 30thPortugal235
- 31stChile218
31 countries ranked.
Top 10 countries by adult literacy →Keep exploring
More on education
- Years in educationExpected years of schooling for a child entering school today.
- Pupil performanceStandardized test performance (PISA countries, NAEP states, linked scale).
- Adult numeracyHow well working-age adults handle numbers and mathematical ideas.
- Adults with weak literacyShare of adults at PIAAC literacy Level 1 or below — they can read short, simple texts but little more.
- Adults with weak numeracyShare of adults at PIAAC numeracy Level 1 or below — they manage single-step arithmetic but little more.
- Nobel laureatesNobel laureates by place of birth, per million current residents.
Who leads the world
- Monacotops life expectancy86.5 years
- Singaporetops homicide rate0.1 per 100k
- Bulgariatops paid maternity leave59 weeks
Finland leads on adult literacy — see where it lands on every other measure, and which US state it most resembles.
All 68 measures →Every country ranked →Every US state →All the Top 10s →The overall board →How we read the data →