Global inequalities in literacy

Regional differences are evident
gender disparities
Did you know?

Global inequalities, highlighted in recent literacy figures from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, have revealed that women in the world's least developed countries still have not benefited from the fundamental human right to education.

Despite progress over the last 20 years, in all of the world's regions there are more illiterate women than men, as about two thirds of the total number of illiterates are women. On a global scale, one in four women, and one in seven men cannot read nor write.

Regional differences are evident

Regional differences are evident. Whereas in Europe and North American only about 2% of women are illiterate (compared to 1% men), in Southern Asia nearly 3 in 5 women (and 1 in 3 men) are illiterate.

The greatest improvements in literacy rates for women since 1990 have occurred in Sub-Saharan Africa (where literacy rates have risen from 41% in 1990 to an estimated 54% in the year 2000) and the Arab States (where rates have risen from 37% to 50%). Despite these recent improvements, however, the differences between the genders is greater in the Arab States than any other world region apart from Southern Asia.

Gender disparities

The gender disparities for literacy rates are less marked amongst young adults. There is now little or no gender difference in the literacy rates of 15-24 year olds in several regions of the world including Europe & North America, Latin America & the Caribbean and Eastern Asia & Oceania.

Did you know?

In the year 2000 an estimated 875 million adults are illiterate of which nearly two-thirds are women.

In 1969, the year man took his first step on the moon, 4 out of 5 women in Africa could not read or write. It is estimated that today nearly half of all African women still are illiterate.

According to the latest projections, between 1990 and 2005 the fastest increases in literacy rates amongst adult women will be in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States. In both regions over that period, the percentage of adult women who are literate will have risen by 19 percentage points from 41% in 1990 to 60% in 2005 in Sub-Saharan Africa and from 37% to 56% in the Arab States.

Since 1985 in general there have been more female students than male in higher education in the most developed countries. By contrast, in the world's least developed countries, only 1 in 4 students at this level are women.

Throughout the world, in scientific domains female students are well represented in nursing and biology, though they are still underrepresented in maths, physics, chemistry and especially engineering. On a global scale, there are higher percentages of women studying education or the humanities at university than any other subject.

In the world women represent 94% of pre-primary school teachers, 58% of primary school teachers and 48% of secondary school teachers.

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