25.9% of Egypt’s population above 10 years of age is illiterate, according to a report conducted by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) for the year 2013.
The agency compares and contrasts illiteracy rates in the country between 2006 and 2013, concluding that illiteracy rates among individuals above the age of 10 decreased by a rate of 3.8%. The report has been released before International Literacy Day on 8 September.
The report also compared Egypt’s illiteracy rate with that of 17 other Arab countries—Egypt was ranked the fourth highest.
The report found that levels of illiteracy among individuals above the age of 60 (64.9%) exceed that of youth aged 5 to 24 (8.6%).
Also, the illiteracy rate between urban residents reached 19.1%, while the illiteracy rate of countryside residents reached 31.2%.
In terms of location, Upper Egypt’s governorates scored the highest illiteracy rates, such as Fayoum (37%), Sohag (35.5%), Minya (35%) and Asyut (32.5%).
