Education · Africa ranking
Youth Literacy Rate by African country
Mauritius has the highest youth literacy rate of any African country, at 99.8%, ahead of Seychelles and Eswatini.
Share of people ages 15-24 who can read and write. 53 of 54 countries, ranked · UNESCO UIS, 2023.
Mauritius
Seychelles
EswatiniBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Youth Literacy Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mauritius | 99.8% | |
| 2 | Seychelles | 99% | |
| 3 | Eswatini | 98.7% | |
| 4 | Cabo Verde | 98.3% | |
| 5 | Tunisia | 98.2% | |
| 6 | South Africa | 97.2% | |
| 7 | Equatorial Guinea | 97.1% | |
| 8 | Lesotho | 96.5% | |
| 9 | Sao Tome and Principe | 95.5% | |
| 10 | Egypt | 95.2% | |
| 11 | Gabon | 94% | |
| 12 | Botswana | 94% | |
| 13 | Algeria | 93.8% | |
| 14 | Kenya | 93.2% | |
| 15 | Zimbabwe | 92.5% | |
| 16 | Namibia | 92.1% | |
| 17 | Ghana | 91.5% | |
| 18 | Comoros | 90.8% | |
| 19 | Togo | 90.4% | |
| 20 | Rwanda | 90% | |
| 21 | Morocco | 89.1% | |
| 22 | Burundi | 88.4% | |
| 23 | Tanzania | 87.1% | |
| 24 | Eritrea | 87% | |
| 25 | Uganda | 85.2% | |
| 26 | Ethiopia | 84.7% | |
| 27 | Madagascar | 82.4% | |
| 28 | Guinea-Bissau | 82.2% | |
| 29 | Cameroon | 81.9% | |
| 30 | Nigeria | 81.4% | |
| 31 | Malawi | 80.7% | |
| 32 | Angola | 80.7% | |
| 33 | Djibouti | 79.6% | |
| 34 | Republic of the Congo | 78.6% | |
| 35 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 77.9% | |
| 36 | Zambia | 77.7% | |
| 37 | Liberia | 75.1% | |
| 38 | Sierra Leone | 73% | |
| 39 | Mozambique | 71.4% | |
| 40 | Benin | 71.3% | |
| 41 | Mauritania | 70.9% | |
| 42 | Somalia | 70.7% | |
| 43 | Gambia | 67.5% | |
| 44 | Senegal | 67.4% | |
| 45 | Cote d'Ivoire | 66.8% | |
| 46 | Sudan | 65.8% | |
| 47 | Burkina Faso | 62.8% | |
| 48 | Guinea | 53.9% | |
| 49 | Niger | 53.9% | |
| 50 | Central African Republic | 50.6% | |
| 51 | Mali | 50.3% | |
| 52 | Chad | 45.1% | |
| 53 | South Sudan | 36.7% |
Cabo Verde
Tunisia
South Africa
Equatorial Guinea
Lesotho
Sao Tome and Principe
Egypt
Gabon
Botswana
Algeria
Kenya
Zimbabwe
Namibia
Ghana
Comoros
Togo
Rwanda
Morocco
Burundi
Tanzania
Eritrea
Uganda
Ethiopia
Madagascar
Guinea-Bissau
Cameroon
Nigeria
Malawi
Angola
Djibouti
Republic of the Congo
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Zambia
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Mozambique
Benin
Mauritania
Somalia
Gambia
Senegal
Cote d'Ivoire
Sudan
Burkina Faso
Guinea
Niger
Central African Republic
Mali
Chad
South SudanGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Youth Literacy Rate figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=youth_literacy_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — UNESCO UIS, 2023. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
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Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest youth literacy rate?
Mauritius has the highest youth literacy rate in Africa at 99.8% (2023), followed by Seychelles and Eswatini.
Which African country has the lowest youth literacy rate?
South Sudan has the lowest youth literacy rate of the 53 African countries with data, at 36.7% (2008).
How many African countries report Youth Literacy Rate data?
53 of 54 African countries have a recent Youth Literacy Rate figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=youth_literacy_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
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