Contents
- Adult literacy in Mexico: national literacy and illiteracy rates
- Adult illiteracy in Mexico by sex
- Adult illiteracy in Mexico by age
- Adult illiteracy rates by Mexican state
- Adult illiteracy in Mexico by state: population counts
- INEA adult literacy program registrations and completions
- Sources
Adult literacy in Mexico: national literacy and illiteracy rates
The 2020 census counted 93,985,354 people aged 15 and over in Mexico. Of this population, 95.0% was classified as literate and 4.7% as illiterate. These are census classifications for residents aged 15 and older; they describe basic literacy status, not the full range of reading, writing, or comprehension skills.
The national illiteracy rate declined across the three censuses reported by INEGI: 9.5% in 2000, 6.9% in 2010, and 4.7% in 2020. That is a reduction of 4.8 percentage points between 2000 and 2020. The figures show a steady decrease at the national level over those census dates, but do not indicate how rates changed in every intervening year.
Sources: INEGI, Anuario estadístico y geográfico por entidad federativa 2020, Cuadro 4.2; INEGI, En México somos 126 014 024 habitantes: Censo de Población y Vivienda.
Adult illiteracy in Mexico by sex
Women accounted for 47.9% of Mexico’s illiterate population aged 15 and over in 2020, while men accounted for 52.1%. In raw counts, however, the census recorded 2,677,192 illiterate women and 1,779,239 illiterate men. The percentage figures describe the composition of the illiterate population; they are not the illiteracy rate within each sex. The count difference means more women than men were enumerated as illiterate, but these totals alone do not establish the respective rates among all women and all men.
Source: INEGI, Anuario estadístico y geográfico por entidad federativa 2020, Cuadros 4.1 and 4.2.
Adult illiteracy in Mexico by age
The 2020 census results show a clear age gradient in illiteracy rates among people aged 15 and over. The rate was 0.5% for ages 15–29 and 1.2% for ages 30–44. It rose to 2.8% among people aged 45–59, 8.4% among those aged 60–74, and 22.0% among people aged 75 and over.
| Age group | Illiteracy rate, 2020 |
|---|---|
| 15–29 | 0.5% |
| 30–44 | 1.2% |
| 45–59 | 2.8% |
| 60–74 | 8.4% |
| 75 and over | 22.0% |
These are rates within each age group, rather than each group’s share of all people counted as illiterate. The oldest group’s rate was substantially higher than that of younger adults. The census chart reports the pattern, but the figures alone do not explain why rates differ by age.
Source: INEGI, Presentación de resultados. México, Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020, p. 63.
Adult illiteracy rates by Mexican state
National averages mask wide differences among states. In 2020, Chiapas had the highest state illiteracy rate among people aged 15 and over, at 13.7%. Guerrero followed at 12.5%, and Oaxaca recorded 11.8%. The corresponding literacy rates were 86.2%, 87.4%, and 88.1%.
At the lower end of the illiteracy-rate range, Mexico City recorded 1.4%, Nuevo León 1.5%, Coahuila de Zaragoza 1.7%, and Baja California 1.8%. Aguascalientes was at 2.1%. The comparison below includes several states across that range, as well as Campeche, Guanajuato, and Veracruz.
| State | Illiteracy rate, 2020 |
|---|---|
| Chiapas | 13.7% |
| Guerrero | 12.5% |
| Oaxaca | 11.8% |
| Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave | 8.5% |
| Campeche | 5.9% |
| Guanajuato | 5.3% |
| Aguascalientes | 2.1% |
| Baja California | 1.8% |
| Coahuila de Zaragoza | 1.7% |
| Nuevo León | 1.5% |
| Mexico City | 1.4% |
All rates refer to residents aged 15 and over in the 2020 census. They compare the proportion classified as illiterate within each state, so a lower rate does not necessarily mean fewer people in total. These observations show geographic variation, but do not identify its causes.
Source: INEGI, Anuario estadístico y geográfico por entidad federativa 2020, Cuadro 4.2.
Adult illiteracy in Mexico by state: population counts
Rates and counts answer different questions. Chiapas had the country’s highest state rate, while Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave had a slightly larger number of illiterate residents aged 15 and over: 517,798, compared with 512,720 in Chiapas. Oaxaca counted 351,511, Puebla 334,179, and Guerrero 310,327.
The State of Mexico recorded 372,454 people aged 15 and over as illiterate, including 248,391 women. This is distinct from Mexico City, the separate federal entity whose illiteracy rate was 1.4%. State totals reflect both the rate and the size of the population being measured; a count should not be read as a rate ranking.
Source: INEGI, Anuario estadístico y geográfico por entidad federativa 2020, Cuadro 4.1.
INEA adult literacy program registrations and completions
INEA administrative reports provide a different measure from the census: activity in literacy services. They count people registered in or completing a program during a reporting period. They are not estimates of everyone in Mexico who is literate or illiterate, and should not be compared directly with census population rates.
During calendar year 2023, INEA recorded 150,050 literacy-service registrations against a target of 309,874, or 48.42% of the target. It reported 35,270 literacy-level completions against a target of 78,800, or 44.76%. The report also breaks down those completions: 14,931 Hispanic-speaking men, 18,164 Hispanic-speaking women, 747 Indigenous men, and 1,428 Indigenous women. These are program categories and completions, not shares of Mexico’s total illiterate population.
In a later reporting window, October 2024 through June 2025, the education ministry reported 123,561 young people and adults registered in literacy services and 52,216 learners who completed the literacy service. The same report includes registrations and completions in primary and secondary education, so these literacy figures are the relevant service-specific totals. The reporting window is nine months and is not directly equivalent to calendar-year 2023.
For another period, the 2022–2023 school-cycle report stated that 26,840 people completed INEA literacy services, out of 339,938 people completing any educational level. In the same cycle, 2,651 community plazas served 278,861 people; 119,239 of those people completed an educational level, including 11,256 literacy completions. These plaza figures describe activity in community locations and should not be added to the national total as if they were separate people; the report does not establish that they are mutually exclusive.
Sources: INEA, Informe de Autoevaluación de Gestión, cuarto trimestre del ejercicio fiscal 2023, section 5.5.1; SEP, Primer Informe de Labores 2024–2025, section II.8; SEP, Quinto Informe de Labores, actions to combat educational lag.
Sources
- Anuario estadístico y geográfico por entidad federativa 2020. Versión actualizada. 2021
- Presentación de resultados. México, Censo de Población y Vivienda 2020
- En México somos 126 014 024 habitantes: Censo de Población y Vivienda
- Informe de Autoevaluación de Gestión, cuarto trimestre del ejercicio fiscal 2023
- Primer Informe de Labores 2024–2025
- Quinto Informe de Labores