Lowest literacy rate

Lowest literacy rate
Who
Chad
What
27 percentage
Where
Chad
When
2022

The country with the lowest adult literacy rate is Chad. According to UNESCO figures from 2022 – the most recent year for which data are available – only 27% of the country’s adults could read and write.

Chad’s education system faces numerous obstacles, contributing to its position as the country with the lowest education rate globally. In 2021, only 38% of girls and 49% of boys completed primary school, while the completion rates for lower secondary school were 14.1% for girls and 24.2% for boys. Additionally, 53% of children of lower-secondary school age are out of school, and more than half of the population remains illiterate.

The World Bank’s Human Capital Index for Chad is 0.30, indicating that a child born today will be 70% less productive as an adult than a child who receives quality education and healthcare. Children in Chad are expected to complete five years of pre-primary, primary and secondary school by age 18, but when adjusted for the quality of learning, this is equivalent to only 2.6 years of schooling. Other challenges exacerbating the situation include a dispersed population, a lack of financial resources for the Ministry of National Education, parents’ reluctance to send children to school, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, Chad hosts nearly half a million refugees from neighbouring countries, further straining the system.