Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, female (%) by country
Percentage of the female 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...
What the numbers show
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, female (%) is currently reported for 83 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Uzbekistan; the lowest is 9.5% in Chad.
The median across all reporting countries is 92.6%, and the mean is 80.5%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 10.
Over the past decade 73 countries rose and 9 fell. The largest increase was in Bangladesh (up 101.3%), and the largest decrease in Chad (down 20.2%).
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, female: 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 | 99.7% | 2018 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 4 | Barbados | 99.7% | 2014 | unchanged | flat |
| 5 | Moldova | 99.7% | 2014 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 6 | Tonga | 99.5% | 2018 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 7 | Argentina | 99.4% | 2018 | up 0.2% | rising |
| 8 | Spain | 99.3% | 2018 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 9 | Uruguay | 99.2% | 2018 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 10 | Montenegro | 99.1% | 2018 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 11 | Greece | 99.0% | 2018 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 12 | Singapore | 98.9% | 2018 | up 1.4% | rising |
| 13 | Albania | 98.8% | 2018 | up 0.0% | flat |
| 14 | Portugal | 98.7% | 2018 | up 0.4% | rising |
| 15 | Maldives | 98.6% | 2016 | up 0.0% | rising |
| 16 | Philippines | 98.3% | 2015 | up 6.5% | rising |
| 17 | Jordan | 98.3% | 2018 | up 9.2% | rising |
| 18 | Venezuela | 98.1% | 2016 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 19 | Seychelles | 98.1% | 2018 | up 1.4% | rising |
| 20 | Brunei | 98.1% | 2018 | up 1.5% | rising |
| 21 | Malta | 97.9% | 2018 | up 2.3% | rising |
| 22 | China | 97.7% | 2018 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 23 | Chile | 97.4% | 2017 | down 1.3% | rising |
| 24 | Macao | 97.3% | 2016 | up 3.4% | rising |
| 25 | Colombia | 96.3% | 2018 | up 2.1% | rising |
| 26 | Bahrain | 96.2% | 2018 | up 6.9% | rising |
| 27 | Palestine | 96.0% | 2018 | up 5.9% | rising |
| 28 | Malaysia | 96.0% | 2018 | up 3.4% | rising |
| 29 | Mexico | 96.0% | 2018 | up 4.1% | rising |
| 30 | Turkey | 95.9% | 2017 | up 16.3% | rising |
| 31 | Kuwait | 95.8% | 2018 | up 4.4% | rising |
| 32 | Panama | 95.7% | 2018 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 33 | Indonesia | 95.7% | 2018 | up 4.7% | rising |
| 34 | Qatar | 95.2% | 2017 | up 7.1% | rising |
| 35 | Brazil | 95.1% | 2018 | up 4.2% | rising |
| 36 | Paraguay | 95.0% | 2018 | up 2.7% | rising |
| 37 | Dominican Republic | 94.7% | 2016 | up 7.6% | rising |
| 38 | Vietnam | 94.5% | 2018 | up 1.5% | rising |
| 39 | Ecuador | 94.0% | 2017 | up 1.3% | rising |
| 40 | Saudi Arabia | 93.8% | 2017 | up 30.7% | rising |
| 41 | Suriname | 93.3% | 2018 | down 2.8% | flat |
| 42 | Peru | 92.6% | 2018 | up 8.2% | rising |
| 43 | Sri Lanka | 92.4% | 2018 | up 3.0% | rising |
| 44 | Oman | 92.3% | 2018 | up 24.9% | rising |
| 45 | Namibia | 91.9% | 2018 | up 18.4% | rising |
| 46 | Thailand | 91.2% | 2018 | down 6.0% | rising |
| 47 | Sao Tome and Principe | 89.7% | 2018 | up 56.6% | rising |
| 48 | Bolivia | 89.6% | 2015 | up 3.7% | rising |
| 49 | Eswatini | 89.0% | 2018 | up 8.9% | rising |
| 50 | El Salvador | 88.1% | 2018 | up 8.8% | rising |
| 51 | Honduras | 87.5% | 2018 | up 6.6% | rising |
| 52 | South Africa | 87.5% | 2017 | down 0.3% | rising |
| 53 | Vanuatu | 86.1% | 2018 | up 19.5% | rising |
| 54 | Iran | 82.6% | 2016 | up 12.6% | rising |
| 55 | Zambia | 80.5% | 2018 | up 61.7% | rising |
| 56 | Laos | 77.7% | 2015 | up 30.1% | rising |
| 57 | Algeria | 76.4% | 2018 | up 21.4% | rising |
| 58 | Tunisia | 73.8% | 2014 | up 18.9% | rising |
| 59 | Guatemala | 72.5% | 2014 | up 24.6% | rising |
| 60 | Cambodia | 71.9% | 2015 | up 17.0% | rising |
| 61 | Tanzania | 71.6% | 2015 | up 19.8% | rising |
| 62 | Madagascar | 69.7% | 2018 | up 14.4% | rising |
| 63 | Cameroon | 69.5% | 2018 | up 16.1% | rising |
| 64 | Bangladesh | 67.8% | 2019 | up 101.3% | rising |
| 65 | Rwanda | 65.5% | 2018 | up 15.1% | rising |
| 66 | India | 61.7% | 2018 | up 38.8% | rising |
| 67 | Uganda | 61.4% | 2018 | up 15.3% | rising |
| 68 | Morocco | 61.0% | 2018 | up 68.8% | rising |
| 69 | Egypt | 60.5% | 2017 | up 23.7% | rising |
| 70 | Burundi | 52.0% | 2017 | up 47.3% | rising |
| 71 | Nepal | 51.3% | 2018 | up 33.4% | volatile |
| 72 | Malawi | 50.5% | 2015 | up 9.3% | rising |
| 73 | Nigeria | 47.0% | 2018 | up 27.7% | rising |
| 74 | Togo | 45.3% | 2015 | up 23.5% | rising |
| 75 | Mozambique | 44.2% | 2017 | up 54.4% | rising |
| 76 | Pakistan | 35.7% | 2017 | up 19.4% | rising |
| 77 | Cote d'Ivoire | 35.0% | 2018 | up 25.7% | rising |
| 78 | Senegal | 29.3% | 2017 | up 3.6% | rising |
| 79 | Central African Republic | 24.5% | 2018 | up 5.8% | rising |
| 80 | Benin | 22.4% | 2018 | up 55.7% | rising |
| 81 | Burkina Faso | 22.2% | 2018 | up 36.3% | volatile |
| 82 | Mali | 17.9% | 2018 | up 44.3% | rising |
| 83 | Chad | 9.5% | 2016 | down 20.2% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Central Europe and the Baltics 99.3%
- Europe & Central Asia 99.2%
- Europe & Central Asia (IDA & IBRD countries) 99.2%
- Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) 99.1%
- Late-demographic dividend 97.0%
- East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) 96.5%
- East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) 96.5%
- Upper middle income 96.2%
- East Asia & Pacific 96.2%
- Pacific island small states 94.9%
- Latin America & Caribbean 94.9%
- Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 94.8%
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 94.7%
- Caribbean Small States 93.8%
- IBRD only 86.6%
- Small states 85.2%
- World 82.9%
- Middle income 82.6%
- Other small states 81.8%
- Low & middle income 79.9%
- IDA & IBRD total 79.1%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 72.7%
- Early-demographic dividend 72.0%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 69.2%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) 69.0%
- Lower middle income 66.1%
- Arab World 64.6%
- South Asia 60.4%
- South Asia (IDA & IBRD) 60.4%
- IDA only 54.6%
- Sub-Saharan Africa 53.8%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 53.8%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 53.7%
- IDA blend 53.1%
- Least developed countries 52.6%
- IDA total 52.5%
- Pre-demographic dividend 49.4%
- Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 49.2%
- Low income 46.6%
About this data
Percentage of the female 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 female literates aged 25-64 years by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.