El Salvador's literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) was 91.62% in 2024, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 1.96 percentage points from 89.66% in 2014.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 91.62% | 2024 |
| Five years earlier | 91.31% | 2019 |
| Ten years earlier | 89.66% | 2014 |
| Highest | 91.73% | 2020 |
| Lowest | 77.37% | 1992 |
| Average since 2015 | 91.11% | 2015–2024 |
| First recorded | 77.37% | 1992 |
What the numbers say
In 2024, El Salvador's literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) fell 0.07 percentage points on 2023 (from 91.69% to 91.62%).
Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.81 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.19 percentage points in 2008 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.84 percentage points in 2007. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.18 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 79% of the movement over 10 observed 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, El Salvador had the 14th highest value of the 20 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.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| El Salvador | 91.62% | 2024 |
| World | 90.91% | 2024 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 95.23% | 2024 |
| Upper middle income | 97.48% | 2024 |
Closest to El Salvador in the 2024 ranking
- Brazil — 11th of 20: 94.45%
- Dominican Republic — 12th of 20: 93.6%
- Sri Lanka — 13th of 20: 93.53%
- South Africa — 15th of 20: 91.5%
- Honduras — 16th of 20: 87.61%
- Guatemala — 17th of 20: 86.87%
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 20 values
| Year | Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 91.62 |
| 2023 | 91.69 |
| 2022 | 91.5 |
| 2021 | 91.17 |
| 2020 | 91.73 |
| 2019 | 91.31 |
| 2018 | 91.1 |
| 2017 | 90.63 |
| 2016 | 90.3 |
| 2015 | 90.01 |
| 2014 |
Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) in nearby economies
More education data for El Salvador
- Primary school starting age (years) — 7 (2025)
- Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
- Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 13 (2025)
- Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
- Primary education, pupils — 594,860 (2024)
- School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 89.88% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 90.18% (2024)
- School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 89.6% (2024)
- School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) — 32.83% (2024)
- Primary education, pupils (% female)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is El Salvador's literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above)?
- 91.62% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1992?
- It is up 14.25 percentage points from 77.37% in 1992. The highest value was 91.73% in 2020 and the lowest 77.37% in 1992.
- How does El Salvador rank?
- 14th highest of 20 economies with data for 2024.
- Is the latest change in literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) unusual for El Salvador?
- In 2024, El Salvador's literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) fell 0.07 percentage points on 2023 (from 91.69% to 91.62%). Across the 17 yearly changes before that (2007 to 2023), the average change was +0.29 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.81 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.5 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.ADT.LITR.MA.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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