http://webcapp.ccsu.edu/?
news=1767&data
World's Most Literate Nations Ranked
March 07, 2016
CCSU NEWS RELEASE
WORLD’S MOST LITERATE NATIONS
RANKED For Release: March 9, 2016
NEW BRITAIN, CT: The World’s Most Literate Nations (WMLN) study, the first to analyze large-scale
trends in literate behavior and literacy in more than 60 countries, finds the Nordic countries (Finland,
Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden,) are among the five most literate nations in the world, while the
U.S. and Canada rank 7th and 11th respectively.
The study, conducted by John W. Miller, president of Central Connecticut State University in New Britain,
CT., is used as a lens to view literate behaviors and their supporting resources -- five categories such as
size and number of libraries and newspaper readership.
“The power of literacy and the value of being part of a literate world is often taken for granted,” observes
Miller. Much of his academic work during the past 40 years has been devoted to literacy issues. For the
past 12 years, he produced the highly regarded “America’s Most Literate Cities” survey (2003-2014), in
collaboration with CCSU’s Center for Public Policy and Social Research. The team examined data for
200 countries, but due to lack of relevant statistics, only 61 made the cut.
“The factors we examined present a complex and nuanced portrait of a nation’s cultural vitality, and what
the rankings strongly suggest and world literacy demonstrates,” Miller explains, “is that these kinds of
literate behaviors are critical to the success of individuals and nations in the knowledge-based
economics that define our global future.”
HOW NATIONS RANKED
Country Rank Country Rank Country Rank
Finland 1 Malta 21 Romania 41
Norway 2 South Korea 22 Portugal 42
Iceland 3 Czech Republic 23 Brazil 43
Denmark 4 Ireland 24 Croatia 44
Sweden 5 Italy 25 Qatar 45
1 of 3 13/11/2018 9:38
http://webcapp.ccsu.edu/?news=1767&data
Switzerland 6 Austria 26 Costa Rica 46
United States 7 Russia 27 Argentina 47
Germany 8 Slovenia 28 Mauritius 48
Latvia 9 Hungary 29 Serbia 49
Netherlands 10 Slovak Republic 30 Turkey 50
Canada 11 Lithuania 31 Georgia 51
France 12 Japan 32 Tunisia 52
Luxembourg 13 Cyprus 33 Malaysia 53
Estonia 14 Bulgaria 34 Albania 54
New Zealand 15 Spain 35 Panama 55
Australia 16 Singapore 36 South Africa 56
United Kingdom 17 Chile 37 Colombia 57
Belgium 18 Mexico 38 Morocco 58
Israel 19 China 39 Thailand 59
Poland 20 Greece 40 Indonesia 60
Botswana 61
METHODOLOGY
Miller’s study synthesizes two types of variables: literacy achievement tests (PIRLS – Progress in
International Reading Literacy Study and PISA – Programme for International Student Assessment) and
literate behavior characteristics (population, newspapers, libraries, years of schooling). For details on
methodology, go to www.ccsu.edu/WMLN.
A companion book, “World Literacy: How Countries Rank And Why It Matters” (Routledge, 2016)
2 of 3 13/11/2018 9:38
http://webcapp.ccsu.edu/?news=1767&data
authored by Miller and Michael C. McKenna, provides an extended analysis of many of the factors
involved in this study and may be helpful in interpreting the results.
“The factors we examine present a complex and nuanced portrait of a nation’s cultural vitality,” says
Miller. “And what the rankings strongly suggest and world literacy demonstrates is that these kinds of
literate behaviors are critical to the success of individuals and nations in the knowledge-based
economies that define our global future.”
TRENDS
One consistent finding, according to Miller, is that “there is no meaningful correlation between years of
compulsory schooling and educational expenditures on the one hand and test scores on the other.
Finland, Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden earn the five top slots in the study, largely because
“their monolithic culture values reading,” Miller says.
He also points out that the rankings would be “very different” if educational outputs (PIRLS and PISA)
were the only indices used. “The Pacific Rim countries, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and China,
would top the list if test performance was the only measure. Finland would be the only non-Pacific Rim
country to rank high,” he states, and adds, “When factors such as library size and accessibility are
added in, the Pacific Rim nations drop dramatically.”
The Western Hemisphere countries do not fare well overall in the study. Mexico ranks 38th, Brazil 43rd,
and Costa Rica comes in at 46th. For the U.S., Miller says, while the years of compulsory education
have increased, the practice of literate behaviors has decreased, and the ability to read stays relatively
the same. “It is not so much that we are slowing down in this world race, but rather that others are
speeding up,” he emphasizes.
The complete rankings are available online at www.ccsu.edu/wmln.
###
Contact:
Mark McLaughlin, Assoc. VP of Marketing & Communications, 860.832.0065, [email protected]
Janice Palmer, Media Relations Officer, 860.832.1791, 860.538.2649, [email protected]
3 of 3 13/11/2018 9:38
