Literacy Rate: Benin

Analysis# Benin Literacy Rate Benin's literacy rate reached 51.38% in 2022, marking the country's all-time peak. This represents a dramatic recovery from 1979, when only 16.48% of the population could read and write—a gain of 211.8% over four decades. The current figure reflects substantial educational progress, though roughly half the population remains illiterate, indicating significant room for development. The path to 2022's peak shows pronounced volatility. Steady growth from 1979 through 2011 (reaching 44.688%) was interrupted by a sharp decline to 38.87% in 2017, suggesting implementation challenges or measurement shifts. Recovery accelerated from 2019 onward, jumping from 49% to 51.38% by 2022. The recent upward momentum suggests strengthened commitment to primary education access, though sustaining this trajectory remains critical for long-term human capital development.