The results of the International Program for the Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) were just released. PIAAC assessed 31 countries from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in literacy, numeracy and problem solving.
Portugal came bottom of the table in all three areas, well below the OECD average. On a scale of 0 to 500, adults aged between 16 and 65 scored an average of 235 points in literacy (OECD average: 260), 238 points in numeracy (OECD average: 263) and 233 points in problem solving (OECD average: 251). It was the first time that the country took part in what is the most comprehensive international survey of the cognitive skills of the adult population.
In both literacy and numeracy, Portugal was outperformed only Chile. In problem-solving, Portugal came 27th out of the 31 countries represented, ahead of Italy, Lithuania, Poland and Chile.
See Portugal's full report here.