4.1.1 Proportion of children and young people at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading (%) by country
Countries reporting
52
Highest
88.95
Estonia
Lowest
28.42
Tunisia
Median
76.37
Years covered
19
2000–2018
Data points
329
What the numbers show
4.1.1 Proportion of children and young people at the end of lower secondary achieving at least a minimum proficiency level in reading (%) is currently reported for 52 countries. The highest value is 88.95 in Estonia; the lowest is 28.42 in Tunisia.
The median across all reporting countries is 76.37, and the mean is 70.58.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 3.
Over the past decade 16 countries rose and 36 fell. The largest increase was in Qatar (up 34.4%), and the largest decrease in Indonesia (down 35.4%).
4.1.1 Proportion of children and young people at the end of lower: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Estonia | 88.95 | 2018 | up 2.6% | flat |
| 2 | Ireland | 88.2 | 2018 | up 6.6% | flat |
| 3 | Liechtenstein | 87.62 | 2012 | down 2.2% | rising |
| 4 | Finland | 86.45 | 2018 | down 5.9% | falling |
| 5 | Canada | 86.25 | 2018 | down 3.9% | flat |
| 6 | Poland | 85.32 | 2018 | up 0.4% | rising |
| 7 | Korea | 84.89 | 2018 | down 9.9% | falling |
| 8 | Denmark | 84 | 2018 | down 0.9% | flat |
| 9 | Spain | 83.76 | 2015 | up 12.7% | flat |
| 10 | United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland | 82.7 | 2018 | up 1.4% | flat |
| 11 | Slovenia | 82.12 | 2018 | up 4.2% | flat |
| 12 | Sweden | 81.61 | 2018 | down 1.2% | falling |
| 13 | New Zealand | 81.04 | 2018 | down 5.4% | falling |
| 14 | United States of America | 80.73 | 2018 | down 2.0% | flat |
| 15 | Norway | 80.71 | 2018 | down 5.1% | flat |
| 16 | Australia | 80.37 | 2018 | down 6.3% | falling |
| 17 | Portugal | 79.78 | 2018 | down 3.2% | rising |
| 18 | Germany | 79.31 | 2018 | down 2.7% | rising |
| 19 | Czechia | 79.26 | 2018 | up 3.0% | flat |
| 20 | France | 79.06 | 2018 | down 1.5% | falling |
| 21 | Belgium | 78.75 | 2018 | down 4.3% | flat |
| 22 | Croatia | 78.42 | 2018 | up 1.1% | flat |
| 23 | Russian Federation | 77.91 | 2018 | up 7.3% | rising |
| 24 | Latvia | 77.56 | 2018 | down 5.9% | rising |
| 25 | Italy | 76.73 | 2018 | down 2.8% | flat |
| 26 | Austria | 76.38 | 2018 | up 5.5% | falling |
| 27 | Switzerland | 76.37 | 2018 | down 8.2% | flat |
| 28 | Netherlands | 75.91 | 2018 | down 11.4% | falling |
| 29 | Lithuania | 75.64 | 2018 | up 0.0% | flat |
| 30 | Hungary | 74.73 | 2018 | down 9.4% | falling |
| 31 | Türkiye | 73.87 | 2018 | down 2.2% | rising |
| 32 | Iceland | 73.64 | 2018 | down 11.5% | falling |
| 33 | Luxembourg | 70.71 | 2018 | down 4.4% | flat |
| 34 | Greece | 69.48 | 2018 | down 11.7% | falling |
| 35 | Israel | 68.94 | 2018 | down 6.1% | rising |
| 36 | Slovakia | 68.59 | 2018 | down 11.8% | falling |
| 37 | Chile | 68.28 | 2018 | down 1.7% | rising |
| 38 | Serbia | 62.3 | 2018 | down 7.3% | rising |
| 39 | Romania | 59.16 | 2018 | down 0.7% | rising |
| 40 | Jordan | 58.77 | 2018 | up 13.1% | rising |
| 41 | Uruguay | 58.12 | 2018 | up 0.0% | flat |
| 42 | Montenegro | 55.58 | 2018 | up 10.2% | rising |
| 43 | Mexico | 55.31 | 2018 | down 7.7% | rising |
| 44 | Bulgaria | 52.9 | 2018 | down 10.4% | flat |
| 45 | Colombia | 50.1 | 2018 | down 5.3% | rising |
| 46 | Brazil | 50.05 | 2018 | down 0.8% | rising |
| 47 | Qatar | 49.1 | 2018 | up 34.4% | rising |
| 48 | Argentina | 47.88 | 2018 | down 1.1% | falling |
| 49 | Albania | 47.76 | 2018 | up 10.2% | rising |
| 50 | Thailand | 40.45 | 2018 | down 29.2% | falling |
| 51 | Indonesia | 30.09 | 2018 | down 35.4% | rising |
| 52 | Tunisia | 28.42 | 2015 | down 30.7% | falling |