MANILA, Philippines — Nine out of ten Filipinos aged five years and older can read, write, and compute, but only seven in ten aged 10 to 64 years old are functionally literate, according to the 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

The survey revealed that the national basic literacy rate stands at 90.0 percent, equivalent to about 93.09 million individuals out of 103.46 million aged five and older. Central Luzon registered the highest basic literacy rate at 92.8 percent, while BARMM (Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) posted the lowest at 81.0 percent.

Females (90.9 percent) outpaced males (89 percent) in basic literacy. By age group, 20 to 24-year-olds had the highest rate at 96.1 percent, while those aged 60 and above had the lowest at 76.2 percent.

Meanwhile, 7 out of every 100 Filipinos (6.9 percent) aged 5 and older remain illiterate, with the highest proportion among children aged 5 to 9 years at 20.1 percent. BARMM again recorded the highest regional illiteracy rate at 14.4 percent. Illiteracy was also higher among males (7.6 percent) than females (6.1 percent).

When it comes to functional literacy, which includes comprehension in addition to reading, writing, and computing, 70.8 percent of Filipinos aged 10 to 64 years are considered functionally literate. This equates to 60.17 million individualsout of an estimated 85 million in that age group.

The Cordillera Administrative Region posted the highest functional literacy rate at 81.2 percent, while the Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX) had the lowest at 59.3 percent. Females again had higher functional literacy at 74.1 percent, compared to 67.6 percent for males. Functional literacy peaked at 78.3 percent among 20 to 24-year-olds, and dropped to 57.8 percent among 60 to 64-year-olds.

The PSA noted a significant gap between basic and functional literacy, especially among older adults. In the 60 to 64 age group, for every three individuals who can read, write, and compute, one has difficulty with comprehension. Nationally, 93.1 percent of individuals aged 10 to 64 have basic literacy, but only 70.8 percent are functionally literate.