The 2023 Survey of Adult Skills, a product of the OECD Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC), provides a comprehensive overview of adults' literacy, numeracy, and adaptive problem solving skills – skills that are fundamental for personal, economic, and societal development. These key information-processing skills provide the foundation for access to employment, higher wages and continuous learning, while enabling individuals to navigate the complexities of their personal and civic lives.

The Survey of Adult Skills 2023: Reader’s Companion describes the design and methodology of the survey and its relationship to other international skills assessments conducted by the OECD. It is a companion volume to Do Adults Have the Skills They Need to Thrive in a Changing World?: Survey of Adult Skills 2023, which reports initial results from the 31 countries and economies that participated in the latest edition of the Survey of Adult Skills and collected data in 2022/23.