Statizoid

Illiterate population, 25-64 years, female (number) by country

Total number of females from age 25 to age 64 who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life.

Countries reporting
82
Highest
121.13 million number
India
Lowest
2 number
Uzbekistan
Median
402,397 number
Years covered
50
1970–2019
Data points
2,240

What the numbers show

Illiterate population, 25-64 years, female (number) is currently reported for 82 countries. The highest value is 121.13 million number in India; the lowest is 2 number in Uzbekistan.

The median across all reporting countries is 402,397 number, and the mean is 3.15 million number.

Over the past decade 29 countries rose and 52 fell. The largest increase was in Azerbaijan (up 2,069.3%), and the largest decrease in Turkey (down 71.3%).

Illiterate population, 25-64 years, female: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 India 121.13 million number 2018 down 10.6% rising
2 Pakistan 26.35 million number 2017 up 26.7% rising
3 Nigeria 17.67 million number 2018 up 9.8% rising
4 Bangladesh 12.75 million number 2019 down 33.6% rising
5 China 9.52 million number 2018 down 42.8% volatile
6 Egypt 8.29 million number 2017 up 4.4% rising
7 Iran 3.79 million number 2016 down 7.7% falling
8 Morocco 3.57 million number 2018 down 23.7% rising
9 Nepal 3.36 million number 2018 down 2.8% rising
10 Indonesia 2.93 million number 2018 down 39.6% volatile
11 Brazil 2.80 million number 2018 down 34.2% falling
12 Cote d'Ivoire 2.76 million number 2018 up 9.3% rising
13 Mozambique 2.73 million number 2017 down 3.3% rising
14 Uganda 2.61 million number 2018 up 33.5% rising
15 Burkina Faso 2.57 million number 2018 up 32.4% rising
16 Tanzania 2.46 million number 2015 up 4.9% flat
17 Algeria 2.43 million number 2018 down 15.8% falling
18 Mali 2.43 million number 2018 up 33.8% rising
19 Senegal 2.00 million number 2017 up 42.2% rising
20 Chad 1.97 million number 2016 up 56.4% rising
21 Thailand 1.80 million number 2018 up 214.1% falling
22 South Africa 1.74 million number 2017 up 30.3% falling
23 Benin 1.56 million number 2018 up 30.8% rising
24 Vietnam 1.45 million number 2018 down 2.6% falling
25 Madagascar 1.43 million number 2018 up 4.7% rising
26 Malawi 1.35 million number 2015 up 10.7% rising
27 Cameroon 1.35 million number 2018 up 10.1% rising
28 Mexico 1.29 million number 2018 down 36.4% falling
29 Cambodia 1.01 million number 2015 up 5.0% rising
30 Burundi 871,156 number 2017 up 10.5% rising
31 Guatemala 868,290 number 2014 down 0.6% rising
32 Turkey 849,630 number 2017 down 71.3% volatile
33 Rwanda 820,558 number 2018 up 5.6% rising
34 Tunisia 782,465 number 2014 down 11.5% falling
35 Togo 729,861 number 2015 up 15.0% rising
36 Peru 585,047 number 2018 down 35.3% falling
37 Central African Republic 560,120 number 2018 down 0.0% rising
38 Zambia 558,967 number 2018 down 42.3% rising
39 Colombia 483,949 number 2018 down 21.1% falling
40 Saudi Arabia 443,251 number 2017 down 60.1% falling
41 Sri Lanka 429,623 number 2018 down 20.7% falling
42 Philippines 375,171 number 2015 down 70.2% falling
43 Malaysia 313,363 number 2018 down 31.2% volatile
44 Laos 312,105 number 2015 down 24.5% rising
45 Honduras 257,866 number 2018 up 0.1% falling
46 Bolivia 236,061 number 2015 down 7.6% falling
47 Ecuador 233,668 number 2017 up 5.1% falling
48 El Salvador 191,932 number 2018 down 27.9% falling
49 Venezuela 135,201 number 2016 down 45.0% falling
50 Chile 132,465 number 2017 up 128.4% falling
51 Dominican Republic 128,468 number 2016 down 46.7% falling
52 Spain 93,572 number 2018 down 41.3% volatile
53 Paraguay 76,341 number 2018 down 14.7% falling
54 Argentina 64,665 number 2018 down 19.1% volatile
55 Oman 62,016 number 2018 down 48.4% falling
56 Panama 42,991 number 2018 down 13.6% falling
57 Namibia 41,309 number 2018 down 51.7% falling
58 Kuwait 41,140 number 2018 down 12.1% falling
59 Portugal 36,598 number 2018 down 26.5% volatile
60 Jordan 36,223 number 2018 down 68.8% volatile
61 Palestine 35,410 number 2018 down 38.9% falling
62 Greece 29,595 number 2018 down 40.9% volatile
63 Eswatini 24,142 number 2018 down 32.8% falling
64 Singapore 19,695 number 2018 down 48.8% volatile
65 Qatar 18,184 number 2017 down 4.6% rising
66 Kazakhstan 12,411 number 2018 up 101.7% volatile
67 Bahrain 12,137 number 2018 down 51.4% falling
68 Suriname 9,371 number 2018 up 98.0% falling
69 Albania 8,648 number 2018 down 0.9% rising
70 Vanuatu 8,107 number 2018 down 22.0% falling
71 Uruguay 6,642 number 2018 down 29.2% volatile
72 Macao 5,819 number 2016 down 35.1% falling
73 Moldova 4,098 number 2014 up 39.1% volatile
74 Azerbaijan 4,035 number 2017 up 2,069.3% volatile
75 Sao Tome and Principe 3,878 number 2018 down 68.3% falling
77 Brunei 2,213 number 2018 down 34.9% volatile
78 Montenegro 1,457 number 2018 down 9.2% volatile
79 Maldives 1,386 number 2016 up 55.7% volatile
80 Seychelles 487 number 2018 down 35.8% falling
81 Barbados 239 number 2014 up 5.8% falling
82 Tonga 109 number 2018 down 38.4% rising
83 Uzbekistan 2 number 2018 — volatile

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
Illiterate population, 25-64 years, female (number)
Unit
number
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
122 places, 2,240 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Total number of females from age 25 to age 64 who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life.