Senegal vs Sierra Leone: Literate and illiterate world population

Senegal

49.6%

in 2023

Sierra Leone

56.4%

in 2019

Senegal rank

10th

Sierra Leone rank

8th

Literate and illiterate world population over time

Sierra Leone currently reports 56.4% against 49.6% in Senegal, a difference of 6.8%.

That makes Sierra Leone's figure about 1.1 times Senegal's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 5 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Senegal ahead.

Globally, Senegal ranks 10th and Sierra Leone ranks 8th of 128 countries.

Indicator: Literate and illiterate world population
Unit: %
Source: UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 128 places, 1,272 data points, 1475–2024
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Share of adults who cannot read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.