Zambia: Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 6.95 percentage points from 86.26% in 2019. Since 1990 it is up 12.04 percentage points from 67.27% in 1990. The World Bank has no value for 24 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

How it compares

In 2024, Zambia had the 22nd highest value of the 21 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 Zambia in the 2024 ranking

• Guatemala — 18th of 21: 95.7%
• Honduras — 19th of 21: 94.83%
• Uganda — 20th of 21: 84.27%

What this measures

Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people 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 11 values

Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24) in nearby economies

• Benin — 74.6% (2022)
• Burkina Faso — 65.47% (2022)
• Ethiopia — 88.42% (2022)
• Rwanda — 87.51% (2022)
• Senegal — 69.27% (2023)
• South Africa — 96.34% (2024)
• Togo — 93.33% (2022)
• Uganda — 84.27% (2024)

More education data for Zambia

• Primary school starting age (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 14 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 5 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 4.49 million (2024)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 115.55% (2024)
• Over-age students, primary (% of enrollment) — 13.95% (2017)
• Government expenditure on education, total (% of GDP) — 4.07% (2023)
• Over-age students, primary, female (% of female enrollment) — 13.08% (2017)
• Over-age students, primary, male (% of male enrollment)

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Questions people ask

What is Zambia's literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24)?

79.31% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1990?

It is up 12.04 percentage points from 67.27% in 1990. The highest value was 91.2% in 2010 and the lowest 67.27% in 1990.

How does Zambia rank?

22nd highest of 21 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.1524.LT.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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