Brazil’s illiteracy rate falls slightly to 7.2 per cent

SAO PAULO – Brazil’s statistics agency has found that nearly 12 million people aged 15 or older were illiterate last year.

The Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics said in a report released Thursday that 11.8 million people, or 7.2 per cent of the country’s population, did not know how to read or write in 2016, compared to 8 per cent a year prior.

The report also said that the illiteracy rate among black and mixed race Brazilians was 9.9 per cent, which is more than double the 4.2 per cent rate among whites.