Counting the cost of illiteracy

• 40%
  

  No country has ever achieved continuous and rapid economic growth without having first achieved an adult literacy rate above 40%.²

• 6%
  

  It is estimated today that for each year that the average level of education of the adult population is raised, there is a corresponding 6% increase in per capita income.³

• 2%
  

  Each year, illiteracy costs a developed nation 2% of its GDP, an emerging economy 1.2% of GDP, and a developing country 0.5% of GDP.⁴

Poor literacy affects us all, regardless of a nation's wealth of influence...

• 

  32 million adults in the U.S. can’t read.⁵

• 

  1 in 5 UK children leave primary school unable to read or write properly.⁶

• 

  3.7% of adult Australians still have very poor literacy skills.⁷

• 

  In Mali a mere 26% of the population is literate.⁸

• 

  India has the highest population of illiterate adults at 287 million, amounting to 37% of the global total.⁹

• 

  Almost 14 million Brazilians over the age of 15 are not literate.¹⁰

• 

  Between 1985 – 1994 China reduced its illiterate population by 71%, but there are still 53 million illiterate adults.¹¹

We are making progress

• 86%
  

  The global adult literacy rate is expected to have reached 86% by 2015 compared to 84.1% in 2013.¹²

• 92%
  

  The global youth literacy rate is estimated to reach 92% by 2015 compared to 89.5% in 2013.¹³

• 93%
  

  In the fast developing nations of East Asia, the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, the average literacy for adults and youths now exceeds 93%, compared to 82 – 86% in 1990.¹⁴

• Adult literacy rates in the Arab States rose from 55% in 1990 to 77% in 2013. Youth literacy rates in the Arab States rose from 74% in 1990 to 90% in 2013

• The Arab States and South & West Asia have made the greatest progress since 1990¹⁴

• South & West Asia Adult literacy rates in South & West Asia rose from 47% in 1990 to 63% in 2013. Youth literacy rates in South & West Asia rose from 60% in 1990 to 81% in 2013

There is much still to do, and good reasons to do it

If we rise to the challenge of making the world more literate not only will we create a more affluent economy…

• USA

  $301^billion

  billion better off a year

• Australia

  $18^billion

  better off a year

• The UK

  $127^billion

  better off a year

• India

  $54^billion

  better off a year

• China

  $135^billion

  better off a year

• Brazil

  $27^billion

  better off a year