5-year change: +3.0 pp, trend up
Canada
Reading proficiency (primary): 98.8%
View MorePercentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary
By country62ranked
20012021
2021
Rankings at a glance
Highest 10 · Percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary (2021)
Among the 62 countries with 2021 data, Canada has the highest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary, recording 98.78% in 2021, followed by Russia (98.36%) and Hong Kong (98.28%). Croatia (98.08%) and Poland (97.21%) close out the top 5. Next up, Italy (97.18%) and Lithuania (97.11%). The United Kingdom (97.03%), Singapore (96.66%), and Finland (96.48%) round out the top ten. Seven of the top ten are in Europe, with three from Northern Europe.
Rank changes
How percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary changed between 2016 and 2021
2016and2021
Historical trends
Key terms
- Literacy rate
- — Percentage of population who can read and write a short, simple statement about everyday life.
- Gross enrollment ratio
- — Total enrollment in a level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible school-age population.
- Completion rate
- — Percentage of a cohort of children who complete a given level of education.
- Out-of-school rate
- — Percentage of children of official school age who are not enrolled in school.
- Pupil-teacher ratio
- — Enrolled pupils per TRAINED teacher at a given level of education. It measures how thinly trained teachers are spread, not average class size: the ratio rises when fewer teachers meet the training requirement, whatever happens to the number of pupils in a room.
- Educational attainment
- — Highest level of education completed by the population aged 25 and over.
Frequently asked questions
- Which country has the highest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary?
- Canada has the highest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary among the 62 countries with 2021 data at 98.8% as of 2021, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- Which country has the lowest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary?
- Zambia has the lowest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in reading at end of primary among the 62 countries with 2021 data at 2.3% as of 2021, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
