| Prose | Document | Quantitative | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Finland | 312.8 | (2.3) | 314.1 | (2.5) | 297.6 | (2.3) |
| Sweden | 312.1 | (1.8) | 314.4 | (2.0) | 309.1 | (2.1) |
| Norway | 300.4 | (2.3) | 309.4 | (2.5) | 299.7 | (2.4) |
| Netherlands | 293.5 | (2.5) | 300.3 | (2.7) | 294.2 | (2.8) |
| Belgium (Flanders) | 292.4 | (15.7) | 300.1 | (11.5) | 300.5 | (15.0) |
| Canada | 286.9 | (4.7) | 294.1 | (4.7) | 284.1 | (3.8) |
| Australia | 283.6 | (1.5) | 284.8 | (1.7) | 280.2 | (1.8) |
| Germany | 283.6 | (4.3) | 294.0 | (3.9) | 296.6 | (3.9) |
| Denmark | 283.4 | (1.5) | 305.9 | (1.5) | 301.5 | (1.6) |
| Switzerland | 283.2 | (2.2) | 293.8 | (3.2) | 292.4 | (2.8) |
| Czech Republic | 280.5 | (1.5) | 294.7 | (2.4) | 303.5 | (2.5) |
| United States1 | 277.9 | (1.0) | 278.6 | (1.1) | 274.9 | (1.1) |
| Ireland | 277.7 | (2.9) | 271.6 | (2.8) | 274.0 | (2.9) |
| New Zealand | 276.8 | (3.2) | 275.3 | (3.5) | 271.1 | (3.4) |
| Average | 276.5 | (1.3) | 278.3 | (1.2) | 275.7 | (1.2) |
| Italy | 275.2 | (3.2) | 268.0 | (2.8) | 269.4 | (2.8) |
| United Kingdom | 273.5 | (3.0) | 276.1 | (3.4) | 265.6 | (3.2) |
| Slovenia | 260.7 | (3.0) | 264.6 | (3.0) | 271.0 | (3.1) |
| Portugal | 259.6 | (2.9) | 255.4 | (3.4) | 260.9 | (2.9) |
| Hungary | 258.8 | (3.3) | 266.8 | (4.4) | 282.4 | (4.1) |
| Poland | 251.8 | (2.5) | 246.2 | (2.9) | 249.1 | (3.3) |
| Chile | 240.1 | (3.0) | 237.4 | (3.0) | 229.2 | (4.3) |
COUNTRIES ARE RANKED BY PROSE SCORES.
1. Values for the United States youth population are derived from the US National Adult Literacy Survey (1992) because a sampling anomaly involving college students limits the comparability of the IALS data for this cohort.
Source: International Adult Literacy Survey, 1994-1998; US National Adult Literacy Survey, 1992.