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  1. EducationChile

    Chile: 97% of adults count as literate, yet 54% read only simple texts

    Literate by survey97%Read only simple texts54%Chile, 2015: adults

    Both figures are for 2015, but the measures differ: the survey asks whether a person can read a simple sentence, the test what they understand in a text. Mexico: 95% and 51% (2017); Turkey: 96% and 47% (2015).

    Source: UNESCO via the World Bank: adult literacy; OECD: Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC)Open on the chart →
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    Ordinary literacy statistics answer "can the person read and write", most often by the person's or household head's own report. The OECD adult test gives tasks: find what is needed in a long text, compare two sources. A person at the lowest level of the test is literate in the census sense: both numbers are true and do not contradict each other. The gap shows how far the old measure of "can read" lags behind what adults need.

    Two bars for one country and year: the share of adults literate by survey (aged 15+) and the share who handle only short simple texts in the test (level 1 and below, aged 16–65).

    Adult literacy: UNESCO via the World Bank (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS), aged 15+. The test: the OECD Survey of Adult Skills (PIAAC), rounds 2 and 3 of the first cycle, aged 16–65: share at level 1 and below. Pairs only for the same year.

    Ages differ slightly: literacy by census is lower above 65, so for those aged 16–65 it is even higher, and the gap is if anything understated. Chile took the test again in 2023, and the share at the lowest level barely changed.

    A question for this picture

    And adults' numeracy? Reading got worse in many countries in recent years; what about numbers?

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