More than 914 000 South African Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning in any of the country’s 11 official languages, according to the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS).
That figure represents 81% of the cohort. It places South Africa last among the 57 countries and regions assessed in the most recent study, released in May 2023.
The country also recorded the steepest decline among the 33 participants with comparable trend data. The proportion of learners unable to read for meaning rose from 78% in 2016 to 81% in 2021, erasing a decade of slow gains.
In 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa set a national goal: every 10-year-old should be able to read for meaning by 2030. Four years into the target period, the trend is moving the other way.
Adults left behind
Adult literacy tells a similar story of averages hiding gaps. South Africa’s adult literacy rate stood at 91,15% in 2024, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics.
However, the Department of Higher Education and Training reports that 3,9 million adults remained functionally illiterate in 2022, with the highest numbers in North West, Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
The World Literacy Foundation (WLF) estimates the cost to South Africa’s economy at approximately US$5,13 billion a year in lost productivity, foregone earnings and reduced workforce participation, applying UNESCO’s economic model for illiteracy. Earlier WLF estimates have ranged as high as US$6,7 billion.
A global challenge
Illiteracy is not only a South African problem. UNESCO estimates that 739 million adults worldwide cannot read. The WLF works across five continents to address global illiteracy, one classroom, one book and one reader at a time.
“South Africa has the researchers, teachers and programmes that know how to close this gap,” said Andrew Kay, CEO and founder of the WLF. “Those voices belong on the world stage.”
Oxford summit calls for papers
This research will feature at the World Literacy Summit at Oxford University from 31 March to 3 April 2027. Researchers, policymakers and educators from more than 85 countries will meet under the theme “Literacy in a Connected World”.
Literacy specialists working on South African reading outcomes, mother-tongue instruction, foundation phase teaching or adult education are invited to submit a paper or presentation proposal. The deadline is 30 August 2026.
The WLF operates in 54 countries with a mission to eradicate illiteracy by 2040. According to the foundation 92% of online donations go directly towards books, learning spaces and literacy programmes for children and adults in need.
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