Data / Adult literacy rate / Cameroon

Adult literacy rate in Cameroon

Adult literacy rate in Cameroon was 72.6% in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

201872.6%
Series high72.62018
Series low41.21976

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Adult literacy rate in Cameroon, 1976 to 2018

4050607080197620002007201020181976: 41.2 %2000: 68.4 %2007: 70.7 %2010: 71.2 %2018: 72.6 %40506070801976200720181976: 41.2 %2000: 68.4 %2007: 70.7 %2010: 71.2 %2018: 72.6 %
%. 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 5 values
Period%
201872.6
201071.2
200770.7
200068.4
197641.2

Cameroon compared with nearby places

Armenia: 100 %Bangladesh: 73.9 %Burkina Faso: 39.3 %Brazil: 93.2 %Democratic Republic of the Congo: 73.6 %Cameroon: 72.6 %Colombia: 95.1 %Dominican Republic: 93.4 %Spain: 98.4 %Georgia: 99.7 %Gambia: 53.2 %Guinea: 39.6 %Guatemala: 80.8 %Honduras: 87.2 %Indonesia: 95.7 %India: 73.7 %Iran: 86.9 %Jordan: 95.4 %Kiribati: 98 %Kuwait: 96.1 %Lebanon: 92.7 %Sri Lanka: 91.7 %Lesotho: 86.2 %Montenegro: 98.5 %Madagascar: 76.7 %Mali: 35.5 %Myanmar: 95.8 %Mongolia: 96.9 %Malawi: 76.7 %Mexico: 95.4 %Malaysia: 94.8 %Namibia: 88.3 %Niger: 33 %Oman: 95.7 %Panama: 95.4 %Peru: 94.4 %Pakistan: 57 %Palestine: 97.2 %Paraguay: 94 %Rwanda: 73.2 %Singapore: 97.3 %Sierra Leone: 48.8 %Senegal: 46.6 %El Salvador: 89 %Thailand: 93.8 %Tunisia: 79.5 %Uruguay: 98.7 %Uzbekistan: 100 %Zambia: 71.1 %
  • Under 71
  • 71 to 79
  • 79 to 93
  • 93 to 95
  • 95 to 97
  • 97 and over
  • No data
Adult literacy rate, 2018, %. Cameroon 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, Cameroon, 1976 to 2018) [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, Cameroon, 1976 to 2018. 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/cameroon. 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, Cameroon, 1976 to 2018. 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/cameroon.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS), Adult literacy rate, Cameroon, 1976 to 2018 [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/cameroon (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_adult_literacy_rate_cameroon_2018,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{Literacy rate, adult total, \% of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS): Adult literacy rate, Cameroon, 1976 to 2018}},
  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/cameroon. 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, Cameroon, 1976 to 2018
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/cameroon
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/cameroon.
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 Cameroon?

Adult literacy rate in Cameroon was 72.6% in 2018, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

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 Cameroon?

72.6% in 2018, the highest value since 1976 in this series.

Adult literacy rate in other countries

Related statistics for Cameroon

All statistics for Cameroon | Cameroon in figures