9 in 10 Pinoys have basic literacy – PSA

MANILA, Philippines — Seven in 10 Filipinos aged 10 to 64 years are functionally literate while nine in 10 Filipinos aged five and above can read, write and perform basic mathematics, based on the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) released by the Philippine Statistics Authority.

The final PSA report said that 90 percent of Filipinos aged five and older – or around 93.09 million out of the estimated 103.46 million – possess basic literacy skills.

PSA National Statistician and chief civil registrar Claire Dennis Mapa explained that the 2024 FLEMMS adopted a revised operational definition and methodology for measuring literacy, as approved under PSA Board Resolution 13, Series of 2024.

Basic literacy, under this framework, refers to the ability to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect with comprehension and to carry out basic arithmetic.

Functional literacy, on the other hand, includes higher-level skills such as integrating information and drawing inferences from texts, in addition to reading, writing and computing.

The basic literacy rate applies to individuals aged five and up, while functional literacy is measured among those aged 10 to 64.

Regional disparities emerged in the data. Central Luzon (Region III) recorded the highest basic literacy rate at 92.8 percent, while the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) posted the lowest at 81 percent.

In terms of gender, females slightly outpaced males in basic literacy, registering 90.9 percent compared to 89 percent. Among age groups, young adults aged 20 to 24 had the highest basic literacy rate at 96.1 percent, while the lowest was among those aged 60 and older at 76.2 percent.

The highest proportion of illiterate individuals was found in the five to nine age group, with 20.1 percent unable to read and write. Overall, 6.9 percent of Filipinos aged five and above (roughly seven out of every 100) remain illiterate. BARMM also posted the highest proportion of illiterate individuals at 14.4 percent. The illiteracy rate was slightly higher among males (7.6 percent) than females (6.1 percent).

Functional literacy, meanwhile, stood at 70.8 percent or approximately 60.17 million out of 85 million Filipinos aged 10 to 64 years. This means that about seven in 10 individuals in this age bracket can read, write, compute and comprehend written information.

The Cordillera Administrative Region emerged with the highest functional literacy rate at 81.2 percent, while Region IX registered the lowest at 59.3 percent.