Adult skills in literacy and numeracy declining or stagnating in most OECD countries.
Literacy and numeracy skills among adults have largely declined or stagnated over the past decade in most OECD countries, according to the second OECD Survey of Adult Skills. Declines have been even larger and more widespread among low-educated adults.
The Survey measured the skills of around 160 000 16-65 year-olds across 31 countries. Twenty-seven of these countries took part in the first Survey in 2013. It also looked at how literacy, numeracy and problem solving is used at work. It aims to provide evidence of how developing and using skills improves employment prospects and quality of life as well as boosting economic growth.
But despite major efforts by governments and social partners to strengthen education and adult training systems over the past decade, only Finland and Denmark have seen significant improvements in adult literacy skills.
On numeracy proficiency, eight countries saw their average scores improve, with Finland and Singapore recording the largest gains. But in most countries, the literacy proficiency of the lowest-performing 10% of the population has declined, with similar declines in numeracy. At the same time, the performance of the top 10% has improved, leading to widening skills inequalities within countries. In 2023, Singapore and the United States displayed the largest skills inequalities in literacy and numeracy.
“Adults with higher numeracy skills are more likely to be employed, earn a higher wage, and report better health and life satisfaction than those with lower numeracy skills,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said. “This Survey underscores the urgent need for a comprehensive re-evaluation of how countries support the development of foundation skills. As technology reshapes many jobs, these skills are more important than ever to face the future of work. By investing in skills, governments will support a more resilient and inclusive workforce that helps sustain prosperity for all.”
Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are the best-performing countries in all three domains. Eleven countries (Chile, Croatia, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Spain) consistently perform below the OECD average in all skills domains.
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