ISTANBUL

The Palestinian territories have seen an 85% drop in illiteracy rates in the last two decades, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.

In a statement marking World Literacy Day, the bureau said the illiteracy rate stood at 2.1% among Palestinians 15 and older in 2023, down from 3.6% in 2017 for the same age group.

The illiteracy rate among men fell from 7.8% in 1997 to 1.1% in 2023 and among women from 20.3% to 3.2% during the same period.

According to the statement, the occupied West Bank saw a drop in illiteracy rate from 14.1% in 1997 to 3.2% in 2023 and Gaza from 13.7% to 1.9%.

The highest illiteracy rates were recorded among people aged 65 and older, reaching 20.4% in 2023.

The percentage, however, fell among those aged 30-44 to only 0.7%, and 0.8% among those aged 15-29, while illiteracy rates reached 2.6% in rural areas, 2.4% in refugee camps, and 2% in urban areas.

“Illiteracy rates in Palestine are among the lowest in the world,” the statement said.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi