Literacy in Africa

Literacy: ability to read - the standard of official measurement varies.
Functional Literacy: able to read and understand a book or newspaper and write a comprehensible letter.

Statistics from the year 2000: REFERENCES & RELATED LINKS Printable MAP (pdf 78 KB)

Map-link to Official languages in Africa

Official Languages of Africa

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40

11
12
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14
15
16
17
18
19
20

41
42
43
44
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50

21
22
23
24
25
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27
28
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30

51
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56

Key

Functional LITERACY		Functional ILLITERACY
81 - 100 % CAN read a book and write a letter		81 - 100 % CANNOT read a book and write a letter
61 - 80% CAN read a book and write a letter		61 - 80% CANNOT read a book and write a letter
41 - 60 % CAN read a book and write a letter		41 - 60 % CANNOT read a book and write a letter
21 - 40 % CAN read a book and write a letter		21 - 40 % CANNOT read a book and write a letter
01 -20 % CAN read a book and write a letter		01 -20 % CANNOT read a book and write a letter

Statistics & Estimates

Map No.	Nation	Literacy (official)	Functional Literacy	Functional ILLITERACY How many out of 100 people CANNOT read a book and write a letter?
1	Morocco / Moroc	44%	30%	70
2	Algeria / Algérie	62%		38
3	Tunisia / Tunisie	67%		33
4	Libya / Libye	76%		24
5	Egypt / Égypte	61%	35-40%	65
6	Western Sahara (Morocco)	44%	30%	70
7	Mauritania	38%		62
8	Mali	31%		69
9	Niger	17%		83
10	Chad / Tschad	10%	(8% in French, 2% in Arabic)	90
11	Sudan / Soudan	46%	33%	67
12	Eritrea	20%		80
13	Ethiopia / Ethiopie	36%		64
14	Djibouti	46%	far lower	more than 54
15	Somalia / Somalie	24%	in decline	more than 76
16	The Gambia / Gambie	38%		62
17	Senegal / Sénégal	33%		67
18	Guinea-Bissau	25%		75
19	Guinea / Guinée	36%		64
20	Sierra Leone	31%		69
Map No.	Nation	Literacy (official)	Functional Literacy	Functional ILLITERACY How many out of 100 people CANNOT read a book and write a letter?
21	Liberia / Libéria	38%	in decline	62
22	Côte d'Ivoire	42%		58
23	Burkina Faso	14%		86
24	Ghana	70%		30
25	Togo	52%		48
26	Benin / Bénin	37%		63
27	Nigeria	64%		36
28	Equatorial Guinea	62%		38
29	Cameroon / Cameroun	63%		37
30	Central African Republic	33%		67
31	Gabon	63%		37
32	Congo	63%		37
33	D.R.Congo (formerly Zaire)	77%	far lower (educ. collapsed)	23
34	Uganda / Ouganda	62%		38
35	Kenya	78%		22
36	Rwanda	60%		40
37	Burundi	19%		81
38	Tanzania / Tanzanie	68%		32
39	Angola	42%		58
40	Zambia / Zambie	78%	under 25%	75
Map No.	Nation	Literacy (official)	Functional Literacy	Functional ILLITERACY How many out of 100 people CANNOT read a book and write a letter?
41	Malawi	56%	28%	72
42	Namibia / Namibie	76%		24
43	Botswana	86%		14
44	Zimbabwe	85%		15
45	Mozambique	40%	20%	80
46	South Africa /Afrique du Sud	82%	62%	38
47	Lesotho	71%		29
48	Swaziland / Souaziland	67%		33
49	Madagascar	46%	in decline	54
	Island Nations
50	Mayotte	32%		68
51	Comoros / Comore	57%		43
52	Seychelles	84%		16
53	Réunion	91%		9
54	Mauritius / île Maurice	83%		17
55	São Tomé & Principe	74%	34%	66
56	Cape Verde Islands	72%	majority: no formal education	28