Literacy Rate: Burkina Faso

Analysis# Burkina Faso Literacy Rate Burkina Faso's literacy rate reached 41.567% in 2023, representing a historic peak and a dramatic 370.7% improvement since 1975, when only 8.83% of the population could read and write. The country has steadily climbed from 21.82% in 2003 to its current level, though progress remains uneven across the two decades of available data. The most significant acceleration occurred between 2006 and 2014, when the literacy rate jumped from 22.47% to 34.6%—a gain of 12.13 percentage points. Recent years show continued momentum, with growth from 36.97% in 2021 to 41.567% in 2023. Despite this progress, Burkina Faso's current rate trails the sub-Saharan African average, signaling ongoing educational challenges ahead.