The line graphs compare the proportion of young people in four nations – Norway, the UK, Italy, and Spain – who remained in secondary education until the age of 18 from 1996 to 2003. Overall, females generally had higher literacy rates than their male counterparts, with all the nations in question experiencing increases, to varying degrees, in the share of young people who continued studying in secondary education until 18. Notably, Norway stood out as the country that consistently had the highest literacy rate for both genders, while the UK saw the most pronounced growth over the period.
Regarding the literacy rate of females, Norway always ranked first by a wide margin. Standing at 90% in 1996, the figure rose gradually to roughly 96% in 1998 before dropping slightly by one percentage point, followed by a recovery to a chart-high of 100%, a figure that remained stable thereafter. Meanwhile, the UK saw its percentage of young females grow significantly from 65% in 1996 to a peak of 85% in 2000, after which the figure remained unchanged until the end of the period. Spain and Italy, on the other hand, had relatively lower literacy rates, with the former increasing from approximately 67% initially to 75% in 2003 and the latter witnessing a negligible climb of two percentage points to finish at 72%.
As for males, their literacy rate was slightly lower than that of females. It was once again Norway that led the chart. Starting at 90% in 1996, the figure grew continuously to reach an all-time high of 100% by 2002, before dipping modestly to culminate at more or less 92%. Similarly, there was a marked rise from 65% to 85% over the period in the share of males from the UK who continued studying in secondary education until 18, whereas that of Italy rose from approximately 57% to 68%. Spain, in comparison, had the lowest literacy rate throughout the entire timeframe: its figure increased markedly from a chart low of 52% in 1996 to 60% in 1998 before stabilizing at this level until 1999. This was followed by a slight decline to 55%, a figure that then remained unchanged until 2003.