Burkina Faso: Literacy rate, youth (ages 15-24), gender parity index (GPI)

Key figures

Since 1975 it is up 210% from 0.3 in 1975 (2.44% a year on average, compounded). The World Bank has no value for 35 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2022, Burkina Faso had the 10th highest value of the 12 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Burkina Faso in the 2022 ranking

• Egypt, Arab Rep. — 7th of 12: 0.99
• Türkiye — 8th of 12: 0.99
• Togo — 9th of 12: 0.94
• Ethiopia — 11th of 12: 0.92
• Benin — 12th of 12: 0.91

What this measures

Gender parity index for youth literacy rate is the ratio of females to males ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.

Limitations: In practice, literacy is difficult to measure. Estimating literacy rates requires census or survey measurements under controlled conditions. Many countries report the number of literate people from self-reported data. Some use educational attainment data as a proxy but apply different lengths of school attendance or levels of completion. And there is a trend among recent national and international surveys toward using a direct reading test of literacy skills. Because definitions and methods of data collection differ across countries, data should be used cautiously.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 13 values

Literacy rate, youth (ages 15-24), gender parity index (GPI) in nearby economies

• Benin — 0.91 (2022)
• Ethiopia — 0.92 (2022)
• Rwanda — 1.05 (2022)
• Senegal — 0.95 (2023)
• South Africa — 1.02 (2024)
• Togo — 0.94 (2022)
• Uganda — 1.02 (2024)

More education data for Burkina Faso

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 3.07 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 77.17% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 78.3% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 76.06% (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 91,764 (2024)
• Primary education, teachers (% female)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Burkina Faso's literacy rate, youth (ages 15-24), gender parity index (GPI)?

0.93 in 2022, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1975?

It is up 210% from 0.3 in 1975 (2.44% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 0.93 in 2022 and the lowest 0.3 in 1975.

How does Burkina Faso rank?

10th highest of 12 economies with data for 2022.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API..

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.ADT.1524.LT.FM.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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