| Rank | 9-year-olds | 14-year-olds |
| 1 | Finland | Finland |
| 2 | United States | France |
| 3 | Sweden | Sweden |
| 4 | France | New Zealand |
| 5 | Italy | Hungary |
| 6 | New Zealand | Iceland |
| 7 | Norway | Switzerland |
| 8 | Iceland | Hong Kong |
| 9 | Hong Kong | United States |
| 10 | Singapore | Singapore |
The table above shows the 10 countries whose 9-and 14-year-olds had the highest reading literacy test scores. The United States is in the top 10 both times. But its ranking drops from 2 (for 9-year-olds) to 9 (for 14-year-olds). Italy and Norway also drop in the rankings. Italy fell to 18th in the 14-year-old age group; Norway dropped to 17th. All other countries showed an increase in rank. Hungary showed the biggest increase (from 19th to 5th).
What about 17-year-olds? There were no data available, suggesting that the literacy levels of this age group were grouped with the total adult literacy rate. The next table presents the countries with the highest adult literacy rates. The data are taken from the Central Intelligence Agency's publication The World Factbook 2001. The most recent simple literacy data are shown. As a result, the data are from various years. The most recent simple literacy data from the United States is from 1979. The U.S. Census Bureau reported a simple literacy rate of 99.3% for 1979, thereby ranking the United States 2nd (6 countries had higher literacy rates). The CIA, however, ranks the United States 7th (37 countries had higher rates).
Adult Simple Literacy Rates
| Rank | Countries | Literacy rate (%) |
| 1 | Australia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway | 100.0 |
| 2 | Czech Republic, Armenia, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Japan, North Korea, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Uzbekistan | 99.0 |
| 3 | Guyana | 98.1 |
| 4 | Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Ireland, Italy, Kazakhstan, South Korea, Lithuania, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine | 98.0 |
| 5 | Trinidad and Tobago | 97.9 |
| 6 | Uruguay | 97.3 |
| 7 | Azerbaijan, Canada, Croatia, Kyrgyzstan, Romania, Spain, United States | 97.0 |
| 8 | Argentina | 96.2 |
| 9 | Moldova | 96.0 |
| 10 | Cuba | 95.7 |
The next panel looks at international mathematics proficiency.
Sources: U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Digest of Education Statistics, 2000. Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2001. Literacy for 9-and 14-year-olds was measured by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) Reading Literacy Study.
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