Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes (%) by country
Percentage of the population between age 25 and age 64 who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of literates...
What the numbers show
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 83 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Uzbekistan; the lowest is 18.7% in Chad.
The median across all reporting countries is 94.2%, and the mean is 83.9%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 5.
Over the past decade 72 countries rose and 10 fell. The largest increase was in Bangladesh (up 70.9%), and the largest decrease in Chad (down 19.1%).
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, both sexes: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 100.0% | 2018 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 2 | Azerbaijan | 99.9% | 2017 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 99.8% | 2018 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 4 | Barbados | 99.7% | 2014 | unchanged | flat |
| 5 | Moldova | 99.7% | 2014 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 6 | Tonga | 99.4% | 2018 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 7 | Montenegro | 99.3% | 2018 | up 0.0% | rising |
| 8 | Spain | 99.3% | 2018 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 9 | Argentina | 99.2% | 2018 | up 0.2% | rising |
| 10 | Singapore | 99.1% | 2018 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 11 | Albania | 99.0% | 2018 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 12 | Uruguay | 98.9% | 2018 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 13 | Greece | 98.8% | 2018 | up 0.2% | rising |
| 14 | Portugal | 98.6% | 2018 | up 0.3% | rising |
| 15 | China | 98.4% | 2018 | up 1.4% | rising |
| 16 | Jordan | 98.4% | 2018 | up 5.6% | rising |
| 17 | Philippines | 98.2% | 2015 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 18 | Maldives | 98.2% | 2016 | down 0.4% | rising |
| 19 | Brunei | 98.1% | 2018 | up 0.9% | rising |
| 20 | Bahrain | 98.1% | 2018 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 21 | Macao | 98.0% | 2016 | up 2.6% | rising |
| 22 | Venezuela | 97.8% | 2016 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 23 | Turkey | 97.6% | 2017 | up 8.6% | rising |
| 24 | Palestine | 97.5% | 2018 | up 3.5% | rising |
| 25 | Seychelles | 97.4% | 2018 | up 1.8% | rising |
| 26 | Chile | 97.2% | 2017 | down 1.4% | rising |
| 27 | Indonesia | 96.8% | 2018 | up 3.2% | rising |
| 28 | Malaysia | 96.6% | 2018 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 29 | Mexico | 96.5% | 2018 | up 3.1% | rising |
| 30 | Panama | 96.3% | 2018 | up 1.5% | rising |
| 31 | Kuwait | 96.3% | 2018 | up 2.6% | rising |
| 32 | Saudi Arabia | 96.2% | 2017 | up 18.7% | rising |
| 33 | Oman | 96.0% | 2018 | up 14.1% | rising |
| 34 | Malta | 95.9% | 2018 | up 2.6% | rising |
| 35 | Colombia | 95.8% | 2018 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 36 | Paraguay | 95.3% | 2018 | up 2.0% | rising |
| 37 | Vietnam | 95.3% | 2018 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 38 | Peru | 95.0% | 2018 | up 5.0% | rising |
| 39 | Suriname | 94.8% | 2018 | down 1.1% | flat |
| 40 | Brazil | 94.4% | 2018 | up 4.3% | rising |
| 41 | Ecuador | 94.3% | 2017 | up 0.8% | rising |
| 42 | Dominican Republic | 94.2% | 2016 | up 7.2% | rising |
| 43 | Qatar | 93.5% | 2017 | up 4.8% | rising |
| 44 | Bolivia | 93.4% | 2015 | up 2.3% | rising |
| 45 | Sao Tome and Principe | 93.0% | 2018 | up 38.0% | rising |
| 46 | Thailand | 92.9% | 2018 | down 4.1% | rising |
| 47 | Sri Lanka | 92.5% | 2018 | up 2.0% | rising |
| 48 | Namibia | 91.7% | 2018 | up 22.1% | rising |
| 49 | El Salvador | 89.8% | 2018 | up 7.3% | rising |
| 50 | Eswatini | 87.9% | 2018 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 51 | South Africa | 87.7% | 2017 | down 1.4% | rising |
| 52 | Iran | 87.4% | 2016 | up 8.4% | rising |
| 53 | Honduras | 87.1% | 2018 | up 5.7% | rising |
| 54 | Vanuatu | 86.8% | 2018 | up 16.0% | rising |
| 55 | Zambia | 85.0% | 2018 | up 40.2% | rising |
| 56 | Laos | 83.4% | 2015 | up 18.7% | rising |
| 57 | Algeria | 82.9% | 2018 | up 14.0% | rising |
| 58 | Tunisia | 80.9% | 2014 | up 10.4% | rising |
| 59 | Guatemala | 78.6% | 2014 | up 20.7% | rising |
| 60 | Cambodia | 77.9% | 2015 | up 9.0% | rising |
| 61 | Tanzania | 77.5% | 2015 | up 11.6% | rising |
| 62 | Cameroon | 75.4% | 2018 | up 10.5% | rising |
| 63 | Madagascar | 72.6% | 2018 | up 12.8% | rising |
| 64 | India | 71.6% | 2018 | up 22.7% | rising |
| 65 | Morocco | 71.4% | 2018 | up 41.3% | rising |
| 66 | Bangladesh | 70.7% | 2019 | up 70.9% | rising |
| 67 | Rwanda | 70.4% | 2018 | up 13.2% | rising |
| 68 | Uganda | 69.9% | 2018 | up 5.4% | rising |
| 69 | Egypt | 67.5% | 2017 | up 12.5% | rising |
| 70 | Burundi | 60.8% | 2017 | up 48.3% | rising |
| 71 | Nepal | 60.7% | 2018 | up 16.4% | rising |
| 72 | Malawi | 59.1% | 2015 | up 1.4% | rising |
| 73 | Togo | 59.0% | 2015 | up 15.7% | rising |
| 74 | Nigeria | 57.4% | 2018 | up 20.8% | rising |
| 75 | Mozambique | 57.2% | 2017 | up 28.2% | rising |
| 76 | Pakistan | 52.3% | 2017 | up 12.5% | rising |
| 77 | Senegal | 44.0% | 2017 | up 13.2% | rising |
| 78 | Cote d'Ivoire | 42.5% | 2018 | up 9.2% | rising |
| 79 | Central African Republic | 37.2% | 2018 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 80 | Benin | 34.9% | 2018 | up 43.2% | rising |
| 81 | Burkina Faso | 33.0% | 2018 | up 31.7% | rising |
| 82 | Mali | 29.5% | 2018 | up 44.0% | rising |
| 83 | Chad | 18.7% | 2016 | down 19.1% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) 99.4%
- Europe & Central Asia (IDA & IBRD countries) 99.4%
- Central Europe and the Baltics 99.4%
- Europe & Central Asia 99.2%
- Late-demographic dividend 97.5%
- East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) 97.3%
- East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) 97.3%
- East Asia & Pacific 97.1%
- Upper middle income 96.9%
- Pacific island small states 95.3%
- Latin America & Caribbean 94.9%
- Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 94.9%
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 94.8%
- Caribbean Small States 91.8%
- IBRD only 89.7%
- Small states 87.1%
- World 86.5%
- Middle income 86.4%
- Other small states 85.3%
- Low & middle income 84.1%
- IDA & IBRD total 83.6%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 79.7%
- Early-demographic dividend 78.3%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 76.1%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) 75.9%
- Lower middle income 73.7%
- Arab World 72.9%
- South Asia 70.0%
- South Asia (IDA & IBRD) 70.0%
- IDA blend 63.6%
- IDA only 62.0%
- Sub-Saharan Africa 61.8%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 61.8%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 61.8%
- IDA total 61.3%
- Least developed countries 60.5%
- Pre-demographic dividend 58.5%
- Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 57.8%
- Low income 56.0%
About this data
Percentage of the population between age 25 and age 64 who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of literates aged 25-64 years by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.