Malawi 2015-16

Table 3.3.1 Literacy: Women
Percent distribution of women age 15-49 by level of schooling attended and level of literacy, and percentage literate, according to background
characteristics, Malawi DHS 2015-16
No schooling, primary or secondary school
Background
characteristic
Higher than
secondary
schooling
Can read a
whole
sentence
Can read
part of a
sentence
Cannot read
at all
No card with
required
language
Blind/
visually
impaired
Total
Percentage
literate 1
Number of
women
Age
15-24 2.2 70.2 8.6 18.9 0.0 0.0 100.0 81.1 10,422
15-19 0.4 74.5 9.5 15.5 0.0 0.0 100.0 84.4 5,263
20-24 4.1 65.8 7.8 22.3 0.0 0.0 100.0 77.7 5,159
25-29 5.0 62.2 8.8 23.9 0.0 0.1 100.0 76.0 3,953
30-34 3.3 60.7 8.5 27.4 0.0 0.1 100.0 72.5 3,668
35-39 2.8 52.3 7.6 37.3 0.0 0.0 100.0 62.7 2,924
40-44 3.4 39.2 9.5 47.8 0.1 0.1 100.0 52.0 2,029
45-49 2.5 35.2 7.1 54.7 0.0 0.6 100.0 44.8 1,567
Residence
Urban 12.3 72.3 5.8 9.6 0.0 0.1 100.0 90.4 4,496
Rural 0.9 57.9 9.1 31.9 0.0 0.1 100.0 68.0 20,066
Region
Northern 3.4 68.5 8.9 18.9 0.1 0.1 100.0 80.8 2,838
Central 4.2 59.2 7.3 29.2 0.0 0.1 100.0 70.8 10,529
Southern 1.8 59.8 9.5 28.8 0.0 0.1 100.0 71.1 11,194
Wealth quintile
Lowest 0.0 44.1 9.3 46.5 0.0 0.1 100.0 53.4 4,745
Second 0.1 52.3 10.0 37.5 0.0 0.0 100.0 62.4 4,692
Middle 0.2 60.4 9.7 29.6 0.0 0.1 100.0 70.3 4,635
Fourth 0.8 68.5 9.2 21.4 0.1 0.1 100.0 78.4 4,680
Highest 12.0 74.3 5.1 8.5 0.0 0.1 100.0 91.4 5,810
Total 3.0 60.6 8.5 27.8 0.0 0.1 100.0 72.1 24,562
1
Refers to women who attended schooling higher than the secondary level and women who can read a whole sentence or part of a sentence
Table 3.3.2 Literacy: Men
Percent distribution of men age 15-49 by level of schooling attended and level of literacy, and percentage literate, according to background
characteristics, Malawi DHS 2015-16
No schooling, primary or secondary school
Background
characteristic
Higher than
secondary
schooling
Can read a
whole
sentence
Can read
part of a
sentence
Cannot read
at all
No card with
required
language
Blind/
visually
impaired
Total
Percentage
literate 1
Number of
men
Age
15-24 2.1 69.6 12.8 15.3 0.0 0.2 100.0 84.6 3,226
15-19 0.3 69.0 14.7 16.1 0.0 0.0 100.0 83.9 1,818
20-24 4.4 70.5 10.4 14.3 0.0 0.3 100.0 85.4 1,408
25-29 8.6 64.6 10.3 16.4 0.1 0.1 100.0 83.4 1,022
30-34 8.8 61.7 11.9 16.8 0.1 0.6 100.0 82.5 925
35-39 5.5 69.4 10.1 15.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 85.0 882
40-44 7.1 58.2 10.9 23.7 0.0 0.0 100.0 76.3 624
45-49 4.8 57.7 14.0 23.1 0.0 0.4 100.0 76.5 450
Residence
Urban 17.6 72.9 5.6 3.9 0.0 0.0 100.0 96.1 1,340
Rural 2.0 64.5 13.4 19.8 0.0 0.2 100.0 79.9 5,788
Region
Northern 4.6 71.3 12.1 11.3 0.0 0.6 100.0 88.0 922
Central 6.3 63.0 11.2 19.3 0.0 0.2 100.0 80.6 3,176
Southern 3.6 67.7 12.6 16.0 0.1 0.1 100.0 83.9 3,030
Wealth quintile
Lowest 0.0 53.6 12.6 33.3 0.0 0.5 100.0 66.2 1,134
Second 0.2 61.5 15.9 22.4 0.0 0.0 100.0 77.5 1,325
Middle 0.2 66.8 14.3 18.3 0.0 0.4 100.0 81.4 1,409
Fourth 2.0 72.4 13.4 12.1 0.0 0.1 100.0 87.8 1,462
Highest 17.7 71.7 5.4 5.1 0.1 0.0 100.0 94.8 1,798
Total 15-49 4.9 66.1 11.9 16.8 0.0 0.2 100.0 82.9 7,128
50-54 6.1 55.7 10.1 27.5 0.1 0.6 100.0 71.9 350
Total 15-54 5.0 65.6 11.8 17.3 0.0 0.2 100.0 82.4 7,478
1
Refers to men who attended schooling higher than the secondary level and men who can read a whole sentence or part of a sentence
Characteristics of Respondents • 39