List of countries by literacy rate

This is a list of countries by literacy rate. The figures represented are mostly data collected by the CIA World Factbook with 2015 estimates based on people aged 15 or over who can read and write. Where data is not taken from this, notes are provided. Over 75% of the world's 781 million illiterate adults are found in South Asian, West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Women represent almost two-thirds of all illiterate adults globally. The global literacy rate for all people aged 15 and over is 86.1%. The global literacy rate for all males is 89.9% and the rate for all females is 82.2%.

List 1
See also 2
Notes 3
References 4
External links 5

List

Country	Literacy rate (all)	Male Literacy	Female Literacy	Gender Difference	Year of estimate
World	86.1%	89.9%	82.2%	7.7%	2015
Afghanistan	38.2%	52.0%	24.2%	27.8%	2015
Albania	97.6%	98.4%	96.9%	1.5%	2015
Algeria	80.2%	87.2%	73.1%	14.1%	2015
Angola	71.1%	82.0%	60.7%	21.3%	2015
Argentina	98.1%	98.0%	98.1%	-0.1%	2015^{[note 1]}
Armenia	99.7%	99.7%	99.6%	0.1%	2015
Aruba	97.5%	97.5%	97.5%	0.0%	2015
Azerbaijan	99.8%	99.9%	99.8%	0.1%	2015
Bahrain	95.7%	96.9%	93.5%	3.4%	2015
Bangladesh	61.5%	64.6%	58.5%	6.1%	2015
Belarus	99.7%	99.8%	99.7%	0.1%	2015
Benin	38.4%	49.9%	27.3%	22.6%	2015
Bhutan	64.9%	73.1%	55.0%	18.1%	2015
Bolivia	95.7%	97.8%	93.6%	4.2%	2015
Bosnia and Herzegovina	98.5%	99.5%	97.5%	2.0%	2015
Botswana	88.5%	88.0%	88.9%	-0.9%	2015
Brazil	92.6%	92.2%	92.9%	-0.7%	2015
Brunei	96.0%	97.5%	94.5%	3.0%	2015
Bulgaria	98.4%	98.7%	98.1%	0.6%	2015
Burkina Faso	36.0%	43.0%	29.3%	13.7%	2015
Burma	93.1%	95.2%	91.2%	4.0%	2015
Burundi	85.6%	88.2%	83.1%	5.1%	2015
Cambodia	77.2%	84.5%	70.5%	14.0%	2015
Cameroon	75.0%	81.2%	68.9%	12.3%	2015
Cape Verde	87.6%	92.1%	83.1%	9.0%	2015
Central African Republic	36.8%	50.7%	24.4%	26.3%	2015
Chad	40.2%	48.5%	31.9%	16.6%	2015^{[note 2]}
Chile	97.5%	97.6%	97.4%	0.2%	2015
China	96.4%	98.2%	94.5%	3.7%	2015
Colombia	94.7%	94.6%	94.8%	-0.2%	2015
	77.8%	81.8%	73.7%	8.1%	2015
	63.8%	78.1%	50.0%	28.1%	2015^{[note 3]}
	79.3%	86.4%	72.9%	13.5%	2015
	97.8%	97.7%	97.8%	-0.1%	2015
	99.3%	99.7%	98.9%	0.8%	2015
	99.8%	99.8%	99.8%	0.0%	2015
	99.1%	99.5%	98.7%	0.8%	2015
	99.0%	99.0%	99.0%	0.0%	2011^{[note 4]}
	70%	N/A	N/A	N/A	2012^[1]
	91.8%	91.2%	92.3%	-1.1%	2015
	94.5%	95.4%	93.5%	1.9%	2015
	73.8%	82.2%	65.4%	16.8%	2015
	88.0%	90.4%	86.0%	4.4%	2015
	95.3%	97.4%	93.0%	4.4%	2015
	73.8%	82.4%	65.5%	16.9%	2015
	99.8%	99.8%	99.8%	0.0%	2015
	49.1%	57.2%	41.1%	16.1%	2015
	83.2%	85.3%	81.0%	4.3%	2015
	55.5%	63.9%	47.6%	16.3%	2015
	96.5%	98.4%	94.5%	3.9%	2015^{[note 5]}
	99.8%	99.8%	99.7%	0.1%	2015
	76.6%	82.0%	71.4%	10.6%	2015
	97.7%	98.5%	96.9%	1.6%	2015
	81.5%	87.4%	76.3%	11.1%	2015
	30.4%	38.1%	22.8%	15.3%	2015
	59.9%	71.8%	48.3%	23.5%	2015
	60.7%	64.3%	57.3%	7.0%	2015
	88.5%	88.4%	88.6%	-0.2%	2015
	99.1%	99.1%	99.0%	0.1%	2015
	71.2%	81.3%	60.6%	20.7%	2015
	93.9%	96.3%	91.5%	4.8%	2015
	86.8%	91.2%	82.5%	8.7%	2015
	79.7%	85.7%	73.7%	12.0%	2015
	97.8%	98.7%	95.8%	2.9%	2015
	99.2%	99.4%	99.0%	0.4%	2015
	97.7%	97.7%	92.9%	4.8%	2015
	99.8%	99.8%	99.8%	0.0%	2015
	78.0%	81.1%	74.9%	6.2%	2015
	100.0%	100.0%	100.0%	0.0%	2015
	91.9%	96.6%	87.5%	9.1%	2015
	96.3%	96.5%	95.8%	0.7%	2015
	99.5%	99.6%	95.8%	3.8%	2015
	79.9%	87.1%	72.8%	14.3%	2015
	99.9%	99.9%	99.9%	0.0%	2015
	93.9%	96.0%	91.8%	4.2%	2015
	79.4%	70.1%	88.3%	-18.2%	2015
	47.6%	62.4%	32.8%	29.6%	2015
	91.0%	96.7%	85.6%	11.1%	2015
	99.8%	99.8%	99.8%	0.0%	2015
	96.2%	98.0%	94.6%	3.4%	2015
	97.8%	98.8%	96.8%	2.0%	2015
	64.7%	66.7%	62.6%	4.1%	2015
	65.8%	73.0%	58.6%	14.4%	2015
	94.6%	96.2%	93.2%	3.0%	2015
	99.3%	99.8%	98.8%	1.0%	2015
	38.7%	48.2%	29.2%	19.0%	2015
	94.4%	93.1%	95.8%	-2.7%	2015
	52.1%	62.6%	41.6%	21.0%	2015
	90.6%	92.9%	88.5%	4.4%	2015
	95.1%	96.2%	94.2%	2.0%	2015
	99.4%	99.7%	99.1%	0.6%	2015
	98.4%	98.2%	98.6%	-0.4%	2015
	98.7%	99.5%	98.0%	1.5%	2015
	68.5	78.6%	58.8%	19.8%	2015
	58.8%	73.3%	45.4%	27.9%	2015
	81.9%	79.2%	84.5%	-5.3%	2015
	63.9%	76.4%	53.1%	23.3%	2015
	96.9%	97.3%	96.5%	0.8%	2015
	82.8%	82.4%	83.2%	-0.8%	2015
	19.1%	27.3%	11.0%	16.3%	2015
	59.6%	69.2%	49.7%	19.5%	2015
	91.1%	93.6%	85.6%	8.0%	2015
	57.9%	69.5%	45.8%	23.7%	2015
	99.5%	99.5%	99.6%	-0.1%	2015
	95.0%	95.7%	94.4%	1.3%	2015
	64.2%	65.6%	62.8%	2.8%	2015
	93.9%	94.8%	92.9%	1.9%	2015
	94.5%	97.3%	91.7%	5.6%	2015
	96.3%	95.8%	96.8%	-1.0%	2015
	99.8%	99.9%	99.7%	0.2%	2015
	95.7%	97.1%	94.4%	2.7%	2015
	93.3%	92.8%	93.8%	-1.0%	2015
	97.3%	97.4%	96.8%	0.6%	2015
	98.8%	99.1%	98.5%	0.6%	2015
	99.7%	99.7%	99.6%	0.1%	2015
	70.5%	73.2%	68.0%	5.2%	2015
	99.0%	99.1%	98.8%	0.3%	2015
	74.9%	81.8%	68.4%	13.4%	2015
	94.7%	97.0%	91.1%	5.9%	2015
	57.7%	69.7%	46.6%	23.1%	2015
	98.1%	99.1%	97.2%	1.9%	2015
	91.8%	91.4%	92.3%	-0.9%	2015
	48.1%	58.7%	37.7%	21.0%	2015
	96.8%	98.6%	95.0%	3.6%	2015
	99.7%	99.7%	99.7%	0.0%	2015
	84.1%	88.9%	79.2%	9.7%	2015
	94.3%	95.5%	93.1%	2.4%	2015
	27.0%	40.0%	16.0%	24.0%	2009
	98.1%	98.7%	97.5%	1.2%	2015
	92.6%	93.6%	91.7%	1.9%	2015
	75.9%	83.3%	68.6%	14.7%	2015
	95.6%	96.1%	95.0%	1.1%	2015
	87.5%	87.4%	87.5%	-0.1%	2015
	86.4%	91.7%	81.0%	10.7%	2015
	98.5%	99.7%	97.3%	2.4%	2014
	99.8%	99.8%	99.7%	0.1%	2015
	70.6%	75.9%	65.4%	10.5%	2015
	96.7%	96.6%	96.7%	-0.1%	2015
	67.5%	71.5%	63.4%	8.1%	2015
	66.5%	78.3%	55.3%	23.0%	2015
	98.4%	99.3%	99.4%	-0.1%	2015^{[note 6]}
	99.0%	99.2%	98.7%	0.5%	2015
	81.8%	89.6%	74.2%	15.4%	2015
	95.0%	98.4%	91.8%	6.6%	2015
	99.7%	99.8%	99.6%	0.2%	2015
	78.4%	85.3%	71.5%	13.8%	2015
	99.8%	99.8%	99.7%	0.1%	2015
	93.8%	93.1%	95.8%	-2.7%	2005
	98.5%	98.2%	98.8%	-0.6%	2015
	99.6%	99.7%	99.5%	0.2%	2015
	85.2%	86.6%	83.8%	2.8%	2015
	96.3%	96.4%	96.2%	0.2%	2015
	94.5%	96.3%	92.8%	3.5%	2015
	96.5%	98.4%	94.5%	3.9%	2015^{[note 5]}
	70.1%	81.1%	55.0%	26.1%	2015
	63.4%	70.9%	56.0%	14.9%	2015^{[note 7]}
	86.5%	88.5%	84.6%	3.9%	2015^{[note 8]}

Notes

^ Uses population aged 10 and over.
^ Only people over 15 who can read and write French or Arabic. Although these are the official languages of Chad, there are over 120 indigenous languages.
^ Only people over 15 who can read and write French, Lingala, Kingwana or Tshiluba. Although these are the official languages of the Congo, there are over 200 indigenous languages.
^ Definition varies from the standard and is unknown.
^ ^a ^b Estimates are for Gaza and West Bank
^ Only people over 15 who can read and write Tongan and/or English.
^ Only people over 15 who can read and write English. Zambia has over 72 languages
^ Only people over 15 who can read and write English. Zimbabwe has 16 official languages.

References

External links

World Bank - Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above), for historical use.

Economic classification of countries

Three World Model

Gross domestic product (GDP)

Nominal	By country past and projected per capita per capita

Purchasing power parity (PPP)	By country future estimates per capita per capita per hour worked per person employed

Gross national income (GNI)

Wages

Wealth

Other national accounts

Human development

Digital divide

Net international investment position (NIIP)

Per capita

Lists of countries by population statistics

Population	Current population Current population (inc. dependent territories) Current population (graphical) Population in 1900 Population in 1907 Population in 2000 Population in 2010 Population (United Nations statistics) Population growth rate natural increase past and future population population milestones citizen population (domestic)

Population density	Current density Current real density based on food growing capacity

(Regional)	Population of national capitals Population of cities proper Population of urban areas

Other Demographics	Age at first marriage Divorce rate Ethnic and cultural diversity level Foreign-born population Immigrant population Median age Net migration rate Number of households Sex ratio Urban population Urbanization

Health	Antiviral medications for pandemic influenza Birth rate Mortality rate Fertility rate HIV/AIDS adult prevalence rate Infant mortality rate Life expectancy Obesity Percentage suffering from undernourishment Health expenditure covered by government Suicide rate Total health expenditure (PPP) per capita

Education and innovation	25–34 year olds having a tertiary education degree Bloomberg Innovation Index Education Index International Innovation Index Innovation Union Scoreboard Literacy rate Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies Programme for International Student Assessment Progress in International Reading Literacy Study Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study Women's average years in school World Intellectual Property Indicators

Economic	Development aid given Foreign aid received Employment rate Irrigated land area Human Development Index by country inequality-adjusted Human Poverty Index Imports Income equality Job security Labour force Number of millionaires (US dollars) Number of billionaires (US dollars) Percentage living in poverty Public sector Sen social welfare function Unemployment rate

List of international rankings List of top international rankings by country Lists by country

List of countries by literacy rate