Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)
70.4% Nigeria, 2024
Up 7.3 points from 63.2% in 2021.
Survey estimateIrregular
Source: World Bank · World Development Indicators · SE.ADT.LITR.ZS · version 3, published 2 Nov 2026 · CC-BY-4.0
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How we know
- Definition
- Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.
- Type of figure
- Survey estimate. Estimated from a household survey, so it has a margin of error. Where the survey publishes one, the 95% confidence interval is shown.
- Updated
- Irregular
- Compiled from
- Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
- Source
- World Bank, World Development Indicators (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS)
- Licence
- CC-BY-4.0
- Version
- Dataset wb-wdi-nigeria, version 3, published 2 November 2026
- Cite this
- World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. Retrieved via DataNigeria (dataset wb-wdi-nigeria, version 3, published 2 November 2026). Licence: CC-BY-4.0.
All years
| Year | Value |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 70.4% |
| 2021 | 63.2% |
| 2016 | 58.2% |
| 2006 | 70.2% |
| 2003 | 54.8% |
| 1991 | 55.5% |