Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban, male (%) by country

Total number of males in urban areas over age 15 who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/

Countries reporting
39
Highest
99.9%
Azerbaijan
Lowest
71.8%
Mali
Median
96.3%
Years covered
44
1976–2019
Data points
366

What the numbers show

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban, male (%) is currently reported for 39 countries. The highest value is 99.9% in Azerbaijan; the lowest is 71.8% in Mali.

The median across all reporting countries is 96.3%, and the mean is 93.3%.

Over the past decade 31 countries rose and 8 fell. The largest increase was in Mali (up 23.8%), and the largest decrease in South Africa (down 5.1%).

Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban, male: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Azerbaijan 99.9% 2017 down 0.1% flat
2 Republic of Moldova 99.7% 2014 up 0.2% flat
3 Kuwait 99.5% 2018 up 4.7% flat
4 Spain 99.0% 2018 up 0.4% flat
5 Argentina 98.9% 2018 down 0.0% flat
6 Singapore 98.9% 2018 up 0.8% flat
7 Türkiye 98.8% 2015 up 1.6% rising
8 Indonesia 98.7% 2018 up 1.0% flat
9 Palestine, State of 98.7% 2018 up 1.5% flat
10 Greece 98.6% 2011 up 0.4% flat
11 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 98.5% 2015 down 0.3% flat
12 Uruguay 98.4% 2018 up 0.5% flat
13 Peru 98.4% 2018 up 0.7% flat
14 Mexico 97.8% 2018 up 1.1% flat
15 Chile 97.3% 2017 down 1.0% flat
16 Ecuador 97.2% 2017 up 0.4% flat
17 Colombia 96.9% 2018 up 0.8% flat
18 Malaysia 96.9% 2018 down 0.0% flat
19 Thailand 96.8% 2018 up 0.5% flat
20 Paraguay 96.3% 2018 down 0.8% flat
21 Cambodia 95.6% 2015 up 4.2% flat
22 Dominican Republic 95.2% 2016 up 3.4% flat
23 Brazil 95.1% 2018 up 2.4% rising
24 El Salvador 94.9% 2018 up 3.0% rising
25 Sri Lanka 94.8% 2018 up 0.3% flat
26 Guatemala 93.7% 2014 up 7.7% rising
27 Honduras 93.7% 2018 up 1.2% flat
28 Iran, Islamic Republic of 93.3% 2016 up 2.1% rising
29 Qatar 93.1% 2017 up 3.5% flat
30 South Africa 91.8% 2017 down 5.1% flat
31 Uganda 88.9% 2012 down 3.2% flat
32 Mozambique 88.7% 2017 up 4.9% rising
33 Morocco 87.2% 2012 up 10.5% rising
34 Bangladesh 84.7% 2019 up 14.8% rising
35 Egypt 83.3% 2017 up 5.3% rising
36 Pakistan 82.0% 2017 up 5.1% rising
37 Burkina Faso 73.1% 2014 up 11.2% rising
38 Senegal 72.9% 2017 up 4.4% flat
39 Mali 71.8% 2018 up 23.8% rising

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Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban, male by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Retrieved 31 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/stat/adult-literacy-rate-population-15-years-urban-male-percent/

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About this data

Indicator
Adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban, male (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
39 places, 366 data points, 1976–2019
Last refreshed

Total number of males in urban areas over age 15 who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/