Ecuador: Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)

Key figures

Since 1982 it is up 9.94 percentage points from 83.55% in 1982. The World Bank has no value for 25 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.78 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.52 percentage points in 2017. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Ecuador had the 13th highest value of the 19 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 Ecuador in the 2024 ranking

• Jordan — 9th of 19: 94.44%
• Dominican Republic — 10th of 19: 94.03%
• Peru — 11th of 19: 93.66%
• Sri Lanka — 13th of 19: 92.74%
• South Africa — 14th of 19: 91.15%
• El Salvador — 15th of 19: 89.77%

What this measures

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.

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 18 values

Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above) in nearby economies

• Bolivia — 96.73% (2024)
• Brazil — 94.74% (2024)
• Colombia — 95.34% (2024)
• Dominican Republic — 94.03% (2024)
• El Salvador — 89.77% (2024)
• Guatemala — 82.11% (2024)
• Honduras — 88.25% (2024)
• Mexico — 95.55% (2024)
• Paraguay — 94.86% (2024)

More education data for Ecuador

• 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) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 1.72 million (2024)
• Primary education, teachers — 77,432 (2024)
• School enrollment, preprimary (% gross) — 55.29% (2021)
• Primary education, teachers (% female) — 79.45% (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 1.79 million (2024)
• Pupil-teacher ratio, preprimary — 19.32 (2018)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Ecuador's literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)?

93.49% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1982?

It is up 9.94 percentage points from 83.55% in 1982. The highest value was 96.26% in 2022 and the lowest 83.55% in 1982.

How does Ecuador rank?

13th highest of 19 economies with data for 2024.

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.LITR.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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