Illiteracy is “a worldwide crisis” that will cost the global economy $1.2tn (£760bn) this year, the
World Literacy Foundation (WLF) has warned. More than 796 million people are either completely illiterate, meaning they can’t read or write, or functionally illiterate, meaning they can’t perform basic tasks such as reading a medicine label, the WLF
said in a report released on Monday (pdf).