Paraguay: Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above)

Key figures

What the numbers say

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 1.52 percentage points in 2020 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.03 percentage points in 2016. 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, Paraguay had the 10th 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 Paraguay in the 2024 ranking

• Mexico — 6th of 19: 94.87%
• Bolivia — 7th of 19: 94.82%
• Dominican Republic — 8th of 19: 94.43%
• Ecuador — 10th of 19: 92.58%
• Sri Lanka — 11th of 19: 92.06%
• Jordan — 12th of 19: 92.03%

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. Ant 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 15 values

Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above) in nearby economies

• Bolivia — 94.82% (2024)
• Brazil — 95.01% (2024)
• Colombia — 95.69% (2024)
• Dominican Republic — 94.43% (2024)
• Ecuador — 92.58% (2024)
• El Salvador — 88.25% (2024)
• Guatemala — 78.46% (2024)
• Honduras — 88.78% (2024)
• Mexico — 94.87% (2024)

More education data for Paraguay

• 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 — 710,209 (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 89.44% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 88.78% (2024)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 90.07% (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 570,654 (2024)
• School enrollment, secondary (% gross) — 79.13% (2024)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Paraguay's literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above)?

94.34% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1982?

It is up 18.49 percentage points from 75.85% in 1982. The highest value was 94.87% in 2015 and the lowest 75.85% in 1982.

How does Paraguay rank?

10th 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.FE.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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