Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?

The 2023 Survey of Adult Skills provides unique information on adults’ proficiency in literacy, numeracy and adaptive problem solving. These are key information-processing skills that both individuals and societies need to thrive. They are a necessary foundation for further learning and innovation, and ultimately shape economic opportunities. Skills help adults manage and embrace complexity in both private and civic spheres. Skilled adults can better navigate the modern information landscape, thereby contributing to more informed collective decision making and policy choices.

Thirty-one countries and economies (mostly OECD members) participated in the 2023 Survey of Adult Skills. As 27 of them also participated in previous rounds, the data provide insights into how proficiency in literacy and numeracy has evolved over the past decade.

• Over the past decade, average literacy proficiency has remained stable or declined in most participating countries and economies, with only Finland (15 points) and Denmark (9 points) exhibiting significant improvements. The largest falls (over 20 points) were in Korea, Lithuania, New Zealand and Poland.

• Changes in numeracy proficiency have been more favourable. Eight countries have seen average numeracy scores improve, with the largest gains recorded in Finland and Singapore (both 17 points). Average scores remained stable in 12 countries and declined in 7, most significantly in Lithuania and Poland.

• Finland, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden are the best-performing countries in all three domains. In 2023, adults in Finland display the highest level of proficiency in both literacy (296 points, against an average of 260 points across OECD countries) and numeracy (294 points, against an OECD average of 263). In adaptive problem solving, Finland and Japan have the highest average scores (276 points in both countries, against an OECD average of 251). Eleven countries (Chile, Croatia, France, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Korea, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal and Spain) consistently perform below the OECD average in all skills domains.

• On average, across participating OECD countries, nearly one-fifth of adults are considered low performers, scoring at or below Level 1 in all three domains. This share ranges from 7% in Japan to 44% in Chile. Some 14 countries recorded an increase in the share of low-performing adults in literacy, and no country saw a reduction. The share of low performers in numeracy increased in 9 countries and decreased only in Canada, Finland and Singapore.

• Declines in average proficiency are largely due to falls among the lowest-performing adults. In most countries and economies, the literacy proficiency of the lowest-performing 10% of the population has declined, with many experiencing similar declines in numeracy. The evolution of proficiency of the top-performing 10% of the population has evolved more favourably, leading to widening skills inequalities within countries. In 2023, Singapore and the United States displayed the largest skills inequalities in literacy and numeracy.

• In literacy, foreign-born adults scored 44 points below native-born adults, on average. About half of this difference can be explained by factors such as immigrants having lower level of educational attainment and lacking proficiency in the language of the assessment. The largest gap between native- and foreign-borns was recorded in Finland (105 points), where foreign-born adults make up only 10 percent of the adult population. Gaps are also large in countries with a larger immigrant population, like Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands (around 70 points). Gaps are much smaller in Ireland (10 points), Chile (19 points) and New Zealand (20 points).

• Over the past decade, literacy proficiency among foreign-born adults has improved only in Denmark, Finland and Sweden, and has declined in 11 countries. As native-born adults have recorded more positive trends, the proficiency gap between foreign-born and native-born adults has widened in eight countries, with the largest increase recorded in Germany (28 points).

• In a few countries, immigration explains a small part of the changes in proficiency of the overall population. In Austria, Germany, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden, average proficiency would have been around 5 points higher if the number of immigrants and their relative proficiency with respect to natives, had not changed over the past decade. This effect is however too small to fully account for the decline in literacy observed in Austria and New Zealand.

• Despite widespread educational expansion, average skill levels have not increased accordingly. Over the past decade, average literacy skills of tertiary-educated adults have increased only in Finland and have decreased in many countries. Large declines (of more than 20 points) were recorded among tertiary-educated adults in Korea, Lithuania and the Slovak Republic. Declines in proficiency have been even larger and more widespread among low-educated adults, often leading to widening gaps by level of education.

• The literacy proficiency of young adults aged 16-24 has increased only in Norway, Finland and England (United Kingdom) over the past decade, and has declined in eight countries, with large falls (above 20 points) in New Zealand, Lithuania, Poland and the Slovak Republic.

• As literacy proficiency has declined more strongly among men than women, gender gaps have narrowed in many countries and women now display higher literacy skills than men, on average. On the other hand, men continue to outperform women in numeracy (by 10 points), as well as in adaptive problem solving (by only 2 points).

• Family and socio-economic background strongly affect skills proficiency, hindering social and economic mobility. The average difference in skills proficiency between adults with low- and highly educated parents amounted to 50 points in literacy, 49 points in numeracy and 42 points in adaptive problem solving. These differences are particularly pronounced in Germany. Since the previous assessment, the literacy skills gap between adults with low- and highly educated parents has widened in half of the countries.

• Skills are key drivers of employability and wages, over and above formal education. A one standard deviation increase in numeracy (58 points on the numeracy scale) is associated with a 1 percentage point greater likelihood of employment and 9% higher wages. This compares to 16% higher wages for three additional years of education (also equivalent to one standard deviation). While numeracy has the strongest association with employment and wages, similar relationships exist for literacy and adaptive problem solving. The link between employment and skills is weaker than it was in the first cycle of the Survey of Adult Skills; tighter labour markets during this round of data collection may partly explain this change. These findings highlight the need for continued policy action to maintain, develop, recognise, and value skills.

• Skills are closely related to both individual well-being (e.g. self-reported health and life satisfaction) and civic engagement (e.g. political efficacy, trust and volunteering). The strength of this relationship varies across countries and economies. Many low-skilled adults feel disconnected from political processes and lack the skills to engage with complex digital information, which is a growing concern for modern democracies. As well as reaffirming the need to invest in skills, this underlines the importance of addressing the causes of differences in social outcomes between adults with different skill levels.

• A good match between workers’ skills and qualifications and those required by their jobs is essential for a well-functioning, productive economy. There are significant economic and social costs associated with being overqualified for one's job: in particular, a 12% reduction in wages and a 4 percentage points reduction in the likelihood of reporting high life satisfaction. About one-third of workers across OECD countries are mismatched to their jobs, whether in terms of their qualifications, skills or fields of study. Over-skilling is more common than under-skilling in all countries except Estonia, Finland, Japan and Norway. Across countries, 10% of workers say that they do not have the skills required for their jobs. Although the extent of mismatch varies, most countries and economies could benefit from better alignment of workers’ skills with jobs to increase productivity and the returns to human capital investment.