World Bank Open Data · CC BY 4.0 Some World Bank indicators are published with a lag. The site always shows the latest actually available year for each country and indicator.
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Sub-Saharan Africa
Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)

Within the “Sub-Saharan Africa” group, South Africa leads Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in 2024 at 91, while Mali sits at the lower end of the current snapshot with 36. This format is well suited to long-tail regional and income-group queries.

Group leaders

0.022.845.668.491.2South AfricaSouth Africa: 9191.2LesothoLesotho: 9090.4Cabo VerdeCabo Verde: 8888.5UgandaUganda: 7777.0ZambiaZambia: 7271.8NigeriaNigeria: 7070.4MaliMali: 3635.6

Country table

#CountryValue
1 South Africa 91
2 Lesotho 90
3 Cabo Verde 88
4 Uganda 77
5 Zambia 72
6 Nigeria 70
7 Mali 36

Analytical takeaways

  • Inside the Sub-Saharan Africa group for Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in 2024, South Africa leads with a gap of 1 to the next country.
  • The peer set on this page covers 7 countries, and the lower end of the current distribution sits with Mali at 36.
  • This page bridges the global ranking context with a more relevant regional or income-based comparison layer.