Literacy Become A Widespread

Literacy is a foundational skill. Children need to learn to read so that they can read to learn. When we fail to teach this foundational skill, people have fewer opportunities to lead the rich and interesting lives that a good education offers.

The historical data shows that only a very small share of the population, a tiny elite, was able to read and write. Over the course of the last few generations, literacy levels increased, but it remains an important challenge for our time to provide this foundational skill to all.

At Our World in Data, we investigated the strengths and shortcomings of the available data on literacy. Based on this work, our team brought together the long-run data shown in the chart by combining several different sources, including the World Bank, the CIA Factbook, and a range of research publications.