Literacy Rate: Moldova

Analysis# Moldova Literacy Rate Moldova's literacy rate reached 99.36% in 2014, matching its all-time peak and representing a substantial 3.1 percentage point increase since 1989. The country's lowest recorded literacy rate of 96.38% occurred in 1989, during the final years of Soviet rule. This gap between the 1989 low and the 2014 high underscores steady educational progress over a 25-year span. The most significant improvement occurred between 2000 and 2014, when the literacy rate climbed from 96.65% to 99.36%—a gain of nearly 2.7 percentage points in just 14 years. This acceleration suggests enhanced educational access and policy initiatives in the post-2000 period. Moldova's near-universal literacy rate places it among the world's most literate nations, reflecting deep-rooted cultural values around education inherited from the Soviet era and sustained through independence.