Spain: Literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2021, Spain's literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) rose 0.78 percentage points on 2020 (from 99.03% to 99.81%).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2020), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 4.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.78 percentage points in 2021 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.23 percentage points in 2008. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2021 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.1 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 69% of the movement over 8 observed years.

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

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Spain in the 2021 ranking

• Türkiye — 2nd of 4: 99.26%
• Singapore — 3rd of 4: 98.94%
• Pakistan — 4th of 4: 69.14%

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 male (% of males ages 15 and above) in nearby economies

• Armenia — 99.77% (2023)
• Azerbaijan — 99.84% (2023)
• Georgia — 99.75% (2024)
• Türkiye — 99.26% (2021)

More education data for Spain

• 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 — 2.83 million (2024)
• Secondary education, pupils — 3.71 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.01 (2020)
• School enrollment, primary and secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.02 (2020)
• School enrollment, secondary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.03 (2020)
• Tertiary education, academic staff (% female)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Spain's literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above)?

99.81% in 2021, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1981?

It is up 3.91 percentage points from 95.9% in 1981. The highest value was 99.81% in 2021 and the lowest 95.9% in 1981.

Is the latest change in literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) unusual for Spain?

In 2021, Spain's literacy rate, adult male (% of males ages 15 and above) rose 0.78 percentage points on 2020 (from 99.03% to 99.81%). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2005 to 2020), the average change was +0.06 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.16 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 4.4 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Where does this data come from?

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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