Share of people aged 15 and over who can read and write, per the UIS; measurement years vary.
Costa Rica has no recent figure on this series; the comparison shows the countries that report it.
Regional comparison
Costa Rica
no recent figure
aged 15+, % (UNESCO UIS)
Includes only observations that pass this series’ declared semantic review.
Over time
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All countries
Rank 1 is the highest value among countries with a recent figure. Change compares with the same country’s previous observation.
| # | Country | Adult literacy | Year | Change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uruguay | 98.9% | 2024 | +0.1 pp | |
| 2 | Bolivia | 96.7% | 2024 | +1.2 pp | |
| 3 | Panama | 96.2% | 2024 | +0.1 pp | |
| 4 | Mexico | 95.6% | 2024 | −0.3 pp | |
| 5 | Colombia | 95.3% | 2024 | −0.1 pp | |
| 6 | Paraguay | 94.9% | 2024 | +0.3 pp | |
| 7 | Dominican Republic | 94% | 2024 | −0.3 pp | |
| 8 | Peru | 93.7% | 2024 | −0.8 pp | |
| 9 | Ecuador | 93.5% | 2024 | −2.8 pp | |
| 10 | El Salvador | 89.8% | 2024 | −0.1 pp | |
| 11 | Honduras | 88.3% | 2024 | +1.2 pp | |
| 12 | Guatemala | 82.1% | 2024 | −0.9 pp |
Source and citation
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), via the VerDat PIDA normalized layer.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), “Adult literacy”, retrieved from VerDat PIDA (OEI) on Oct 9, 2026.
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