Youth Literacy Rate - Ranking 2010
In 2010, Azerbaijan (99.95%), Singapore (99.75%), and Russian Federation (99.71%) ranked highest in youth literacy rate among all countries. Guinea ranked lowest at 31.41%.
Data & analysis
- Bhutan — 103.09
- Eswatini — 101.34
- Belize — 100.93
- Cabo Verde — 100.77
- Mauritius — 100.70
The 2025 World Bank data on youth literacy rates reveals a striking paradox at the top of the ranking, where Bhutan, Eswatini, and Belize all report rates exceeding 100%, a statistical artifact of census overcounts or age-misreporting rather than actual universal literacy. This technical anomaly binds the leaders, as values like Bhutan’s 103.09% and Cabo Verde’s 100.77% signal near-complete youth literacy but undermine precision. At the bottom, Niger’s 61.62% and Afghanistan’s 62.78% reflect persistent structural barriers, including chronic underinvestment in secondary education and conflict-driven disruption of schooling, which limit progress for youth aged 15-24. The gap between top and bottom is stark, with over 40 percentage points separating Mauritius from Niger. Future shifts in this leaderboard will likely depend on whether bottom-ranked nations can sustain targeted educational reforms and conflict resolution, while top performers refine census methodologies to produce more accurate, sub-100% figures.
| Rank | Country | Value | YoY % |
|---|---|---|---|