Data / Adult literacy rate / Benin

Adult literacy rate in Benin

Adult literacy rate in Benin was 51.4% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics. That is up 7.5 pts from 2021.

202251.4%
Change on 2021+7.5 pts
Series high51.42022
Series low16.51979

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Adult literacy rate in Benin, 1979 to 2022

102030405060197920022013201920221979: 16.5 %1992: 27.3 %2002: 34.7 %2011: 44.7 %2013: 45.1 %2017: 38.9 %2019: 49 %2021: 43.8 %2022: 51.4 %1020304050601979201120221979: 16.5 %1992: 27.3 %2002: 34.7 %2011: 44.7 %2013: 45.1 %2017: 38.9 %2019: 49 %2021: 43.8 %2022: 51.4 %
%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12, published 2026-10-08.
All 9 values
Period%
202251.4
202143.8
201949
201738.9
201345.1
201144.7
200234.7
199227.3
197916.5

Benin compared with nearby places

United Arab Emirates: 98.3 %Armenia: 99.8 %Bangladesh: 79 %Burkina Faso: 40.9 %Benin: 51.4 %Brazil: 94.4 %Bhutan: 64.9 %Belize: 87.9 %Colombia: 95.3 %Dominican Republic: 93.7 %Ecuador: 96.3 %Egypt: 79.5 %Ethiopia: 60.5 %Georgia: 99.6 %Guatemala: 83 %Guinea-Bissau: 63.9 %Honduras: 88.2 %India: 76.3 %Iran: 88.6 %Sri Lanka: 92.5 %Mongolia: 98.7 %Mexico: 95.1 %Malaysia: 95.8 %Mozambique: 61.7 %Niger: 35.6 %Oman: 97.3 %Papua New Guinea: 87 %Palestine: 97.8 %Serbia: 99.3 %Rwanda: 78.8 %Somalia: 54.1 %El Salvador: 89.4 %Eswatini: 90.8 %Togo: 72.6 %Thailand: 91.1 %Timor-Leste: 69.4 %Turkmenistan: 99.9 %Tanzania: 78.2 %Uruguay: 98.8 %Uzbekistan: 100 %Vietnam: 96.1 %Zambia: 80 %
  • Under 65
  • 65 to 79
  • 79 to 89
  • 89 to 95
  • 95 to 98
  • 98 and over
  • No data
Adult literacy rate, 2022, %. Benin is outlined. Same source and period for every area shown. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Boundaries: Natural Earth (public domain).

Rankings

Definition

People aged 15 and over who can both read and write, with understanding, a short simple statement about their everyday life, as a percentage of the population aged 15 and over. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

UIS figures from censuses, household surveys and UIS model estimates. Most high-income countries stopped measuring literacy decades ago, so they have no value; a missing value is not a rate of 0 or 100. Countries report in different years, so a ranking for one year covers only some countries.

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How to cite

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2026). Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS) (Adult literacy rate, Benin, 1979 to 2022) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS

MLA 9

Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS), Adult literacy rate, Benin, 1979 to 2022. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. World Bank, World Development Indicators, https://data.worldbank.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/adult-literacy-rate/benin. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2026. Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Adult literacy rate, Benin, 1979 to 2022. Dataset. Distributed by World Bank, World Development Indicators. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/adult-literacy-rate/benin.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS), Adult literacy rate, Benin, 1979 to 2022 [Dataset]. Via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/en/adult-literacy-rate/benin (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_adult_literacy_rate_benin_2022,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{Literacy rate, adult total, \% of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS): Adult literacy rate, Benin, 1979 to 2022}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {World Bank, World Development Indicators},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org). Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/adult-literacy-rate/benin. Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult total, \% of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - UNESCO Institute for Statistics
TI  - Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS): Adult literacy rate, Benin, 1979 to 2022
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank, World Development Indicators
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS
L2  - https://invokely.ai/en/adult-literacy-rate/benin
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org).
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/en/adult-literacy-rate/benin.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  -
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Questions

What is the adult literacy rate in Benin?

Adult literacy rate in Benin was 51.4% in 2022, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics. That is up 7.5 pts from 2021.

Where does this figure come from?

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved by Invokely on 2026-10-12.

What was the highest adult literacy rate in Benin?

51.4% in 2022, the highest value since 1979 in this series.

Adult literacy rate in other countries

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