Infographic 2
Percentage of adults aged 16 to 65 scoring at each literacy proficiency level, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries and Canada (excluding territories), 2022

Infographic description

The title of the infographic is "Percentage of adults aged 16 to 65 scoring at each literacy proficiency level, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries and Canada (excluding territories), 2022"

This is a horizontal bar chart.

The vertical axis displays the country name.

The horizontal axis displays the percentage at each literacy proficiency level. These proficiency levels are below level 1, level 1, level 2, level 3, level 4, and level 5.

The zero line splits the graph between level 1 or below and level 2 or above.

Countries are ranked in ascending order based on the share of adults scoring at level 1 and below.

Japan has 3.8% of the population below level 1, 6.7% at level 1, 23.9% at level 2, 42.3% at level 3, 20.9% at level 4, and 2.5% at level 5.

Sweden has 4.3% of the population below level 1, 7.8% at level 1, 25.0% at level 2, 43.3% at level 3, 18.1% at level 4, and 1.5% at level 5.

Finland has 6.1% of the population below level 1, 6.3% at level 1, 17.0% at level 2, 35.8% at level 3, 28.6% at level 4, and 6.2% at level 5.

Norway has 6.4% of the population below level 1, 8.5% at level 1, 24.3% at level 2, 40.7% at level 3, 18.2% at level 4, and 1.8% at level 5.

Netherlands has 6.3% of the population below level 1, 9.5% at level 1, 25.5% at level 2, 39.8% at level 3, 17.2% at level 4 and 1.7% at level 5.

Denmark has 7.4% of the population below level 1, 10.5% at level 1, 27.0% at level 2, 39.8% at level 3, 14.4% at level 4, and 1.0% at level 5.

Canada has 5.9% of the population below level 1, 13.4% at level 1, 29.7% at level 2, 37.1% at level 3, 12.8% at level 4, and 1.1% at level 5.

Estonia has 5.5% of the population below level 1, 14.5% at level 1, 26.2% at level 2, 35.0% at level 3, 16.4% at level 4, and 2.4% at level 5.

Ireland has 5.3% of the population below level 1, 15.7% at level 1, 37.9% at level 2, 32.0% at level 3, 8.4% at level 4, and 0.6% at level 5.

Switzerland has 9.1% of the population below level 1, 13.2% at level 1, 27.8% at level 2, 35.6% at level 3, 13.1% at level 4, and 1.2% at level 5.

Germany has 9.4% of the population below level 1, 13.1% at level 1, 27.6% at level 2, 35.5% at level 3, 13.3% at level 4, and 1.1% at level 5.

Slovak Republic has 4.8% of the population below level 1, 18.9% at level 1, 44.3% at level 2, 29.0% at level 3, 3.0% at level 4, and 0.1% at level 5.

Czechia has 7.1% of the population below level 1, 17.7% at level 1, 33.8% at level 2, 31.7% at level 3, 9.1% at level 4, and 0.7% at level 5.

New Zealand has 10.5% of the population below level 1, 15.1% at level 1, 30.8% at level 2, 31.0% at level 3, 11.5% at level 4, and 1.1% at level 5.

OECD Average has 9.1% of the population below level 1, 17.5% at level 1, 31.7% at level 2, 30.4% at level 3, 10.2% at level 4, and 1.1% at level 5.

United States has 11.5% of the population below level 1, 16.1% at level 1, 28.5% at level 2, 30.6% at level 3, 11.9% at level 4, and 1.4% at level 5.

France has 10.3% of the population below level 1, 17.6% at level 1, 32.2% at level 2, 31.2% at level 3, 8.2% at level 4, and 0.5% at level 5.

Austria has 11.0% of the population below level 1, 18.0% at level 1, 31.9% at level 2, 29.6% at level 3, 8.8% at level 4, and 0.8% at level 5.

Korea has 9.0% of the population below level 1, 21.8% at level 1, 37.0% at level 2, 26.6% at level 3, 5.3% at level 4, and 0.3% at level 5.

Spain has 8.0% of the population below level 1, 23.1% at level 1, 40.2% at level 2, 24.5% at level 3, 4.1% at level 4, and 0.2% at level 5.

Hungary has 9.3% of the population below level 1, 23.2% at level 1, 35.7% at level 2, 25.9% at level 3, 5.5% at level 4, and 0.4% at level 5.

Latvia has 9.4% of the population below level 1, 24.3% at level 1, 34.9% at level 2, 25.3% at level 3, 5.9% at level 4, and 0.3% at level 5.

Italy has 10.2% of the population below level 1, 24.6% at level 1, 35.5% at level 2, 24.4% at level 3, 5.1% at level 4, and 0.3% at level 5.

Israel has 13.8% of the population below level 1, 22.4% at level 1, 31.7% at level 2, 24.8% at level 3, 6.8% at level 4, and 0.5% at level 5.

Lithuania has 8.5% of the population below level 1, 29.3% at level 1, 42.5% at level 2, 17.6% at level 3, 2.1% at level 4, and 0.1% at level 5.

Poland has 12.3% of the population below level 1, 27.2% at level 1, 39.6% at level 2, 18.1% at level 3, 2.5% at level 4, and 0.3% at level 5.

Portugal has 15.1% of the population below level 1, 27.3% at level 1, 33.8% at level 2, 20.0% at level 3, 3.6% at level 4, and 0.2% at level 5.

Chile has 25.1% of the population below level 1, 28.3% at level 1, 30.5% at level 2, 14.2% at level 3, 1.9% at level 4, and 0.1% at level 5.

Source(s): Programme for the International Assessment of Adults Competencies, 2022, and Survey of Adult Skills, 2023.