the percentage of people in the world who are illiterate 14% the percentage of women in the world who are literate 83% the year when the first International Literacy Day happened 1967 a year when 43 per cent of the world's population was illiterate 1980 the most important element in most societies these days knowledge an element which has had a big influence on literacy levels technology https://339efcb25eb75e967b0d-ff8eeadd950d51fd1fc939dca75b3973.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/assets_default.swf