This year, International Literacy Day marks its theme as "literacy for people, the planet and prosperity", a powerful reminder that basic cognitive competencies remain the starting point for people's ability to find their footing in work and life, and in a thriving society .
This matters more than ever as the European Union goes through a triple transition of green, digital and demographic change. None of the three can be successful without a workforce equipped with strong foundational skills: the green and digital transitions demand new and evolving skills, while an ageing and shrinking workforce leaves less room to compensate for gaps left by weak basic education. Cedefop's European Skills Index (ESI) captures this link directly. Employability across the European Union rests, in part, on the ESI Skills Development pillar, which measures how effectively Member States lay the groundwork for training and lifelong learning. The Skills Development pillar is divided into two areas: basic education, and training and other education.
Basic education
The first sub-pillar tracks reading, mathematics and science scores among 15-year-olds, drawing on OECD PISA data. This indicator serves as a baseline for core literacy. Low proficiency at age 15 is a structural bottleneck that is closely associated with wider difficulties later in education and working life.
Training and other education
The second sub-pillar looks beyond the classroom. It measures participation in education and training among 15 to 24-year-olds — a proxy for continuous learning that helps prevent skills from stagnating early. It also tracks high-level computer skills among 16 to 74-year-olds, on the grounds that advanced digital literacy is now a baseline requirement, and a precondition for the twin green and digital transition.
From development to activation
The ESI Skills Development and Skills Activation pillars look at different but connected parts of the skills system. While Skills Development focuses on education and training and the skills developed, Skills Activation looks at the transition from education to work and labour market participation. Together, they help provide a broader picture of how skills are developed and then activated in the labour market.
Skills activation and matching continue to show slow, positive convergence across the EU. Skills Development, by contrast, remains the most difficult to structurally increase. Strengthening foundational learning requires sustained, targeted investment over multiple policy cycles rather than ad hoc programmes and project-based interventions.
Literacy is the first step toward skills matching, labour market resilience and, ultimately thriving and inclusive societies.
Explore the data and indicator methodology behind Europe's skills agenda: European Skills Index.