Each of the Barometer’s 55 measures is assessed against a standard or target and coded as “enabling” (green), “emerging” (amber) or “constraining” (red). Ratings are based on existing sector targets; international comparison to other low- or middle-income countries; equity considerations; and consultation with data owners. Where data is missing, out of date or not yet available, measures are captured as grey. This results in an aggregated assessment for each dimension and for the South African reading ecosystem as a whole.

2023 Barometer Results

Reading Ability Reading Materials Access Institutional Framework Reading Motivation and Practice

Reading Ability

South Africa has unequal early learning outcomes and extremely poor primary school literacy, but reaches acceptable levels of basic youth and adult literacy by international comparison. Currently we do not know as much as we would like to about early literacy skills, but new assessments recently launched by the Department of Basic Education mean more comprehensive data will be available in the next few years.

For details on how cutoff points and ratings were determined, download the indicators spreadsheet or read the technical report.

Reading Materials Access

Libraries are an effective but under-resourced public service. The formal publishing industry produces high volumes of materials and is technically skilled, diversified and commercially strong, especially for a middle income country, but producing and distributing reading materials at all affordability levels and for all language preferences remains challenging. Digital access is growing but remains unequally distributed. Most households still do not have any fiction, nonfiction or children’s books, and few have more than 20 books (though this number is growing).

For details on how cutoff points and ratings were determined, download the indicators spreadsheet or read the technical report.

Institutional Framework

While a large share of government and private sector CSI funding is directed towards education, there is insufficient budget for reading and literacy and monitoring budget use is challenging. The policy environment is a mixture of constraining and enabling, with no coordination across policies dealing with schooling, materials, resourcing and equity. A number of policy initiatives have been stalled for years, resulting in a policy vacuum around reading and public libraries. The education system’s capacity to teach reading is highly constrained.

For details on how cutoff points and ratings were determined, download the indicators spreadsheet or read the technical report.

Reading Motivation and Practice

Overall, reading culture is best characterised as emerging. Agreement with positive statements about reading is high, and more adults are reading with children than in 2016, but only around a third of adults identify strongly as a reader or read books frequently.

For details on how cutoff points and ratings were determined, download the indicators spreadsheet or read the technical report.