Literacy Rate: Bangladesh

Analysis# Bangladesh Literacy Rate Bangladesh achieved a literacy rate of 79% in 2022, matching its all-time peak. This represents a dramatic transformation from 1981, when only 29.23% of the population could read and write—a total gain of 170.3 percentage points over four decades. The country has steadily closed the literacy gap, moving from one of South Asia's lowest rates to a level approaching many middle-income nations. Acceleration became evident around 2015, when the rate jumped to 65.14% from 61.09% the previous year. Growth continued at a faster clip through 2022, gaining approximately 7 percentage points between 2015 and 2022 alone. With the rate holding at its historical maximum and recent years showing consistent annual improvements, Bangladesh demonstrates sustained progress in educational attainment and population literacy.