📖 Global Literacy Has Never Been Higher
More people can read today than at any point in human history.
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📰 The Good News
Reading Is More Widespread Than Ever
Two centuries ago, only around 1 in 10 adults worldwide could read. Progress crept along slowly for generations, then accelerated hard in the 20th century as public education spread across the globe.
📖 Roughly 9 in 10 adults worldwide can now read and write, according to UNESCO — up from about 1 in 10 two centuries ago.
That number keeps climbing every year, even in the regions history left behind the longest. Literacy has gone from a rare privilege to something most of the planet now shares.
👉 Worth Remembering
One of the most powerful tools for opportunity ever invented — the ability to read — is now more widely shared than at any point in human history.
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