Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male (%) by country
Percentage of the male 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 male...
What the numbers show
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male (%) is currently reported for 83 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Uzbekistan; the lowest is 28.4% in Chad.
The median across all reporting countries is 94.7%, and the mean is 87.5%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 4.
Over the past decade 68 countries rose and 14 fell. The largest increase was in Burundi (up 51.9%), and the largest decrease in Chad (down 18.6%).
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 100.0% | 2018 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 2 | Azerbaijan | 100.0% | 2017 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 3 | Kazakhstan | 99.8% | 2018 | up 0.0% | flat |
| 4 | Barbados | 99.7% | 2014 | unchanged | flat |
| 5 | Moldova | 99.7% | 2014 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 6 | Montenegro | 99.5% | 2018 | down 0.0% | flat |
| 7 | Tonga | 99.4% | 2018 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 8 | Spain | 99.3% | 2018 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 9 | Turkey | 99.3% | 2017 | up 2.1% | rising |
| 10 | Singapore | 99.3% | 2018 | up 0.7% | rising |
| 11 | Albania | 99.2% | 2018 | up 0.3% | flat |
| 12 | China | 99.1% | 2018 | up 0.7% | rising |
| 13 | Bahrain | 99.0% | 2018 | up 7.4% | rising |
| 14 | Argentina | 99.0% | 2018 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 15 | Palestine | 98.9% | 2018 | up 1.2% | flat |
| 16 | Macao | 98.8% | 2016 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 17 | Greece | 98.6% | 2018 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 18 | Uruguay | 98.6% | 2018 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 19 | Jordan | 98.5% | 2018 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 20 | Portugal | 98.5% | 2018 | up 0.2% | rising |
| 21 | Brunei | 98.2% | 2018 | up 0.4% | rising |
| 22 | Philippines | 98.1% | 2015 | up 8.2% | rising |
| 23 | Indonesia | 97.9% | 2018 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 24 | Maldives | 97.6% | 2016 | down 1.0% | rising |
| 25 | Saudi Arabia | 97.6% | 2017 | up 12.4% | rising |
| 26 | Venezuela | 97.4% | 2016 | up 1.6% | rising |
| 27 | Oman | 97.4% | 2018 | up 9.5% | rising |
| 28 | Bolivia | 97.4% | 2015 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 29 | Peru | 97.3% | 2018 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 30 | Malaysia | 97.2% | 2018 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 31 | Chile | 97.1% | 2017 | down 1.5% | rising |
| 32 | Mexico | 97.0% | 2018 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 33 | Panama | 97.0% | 2018 | up 1.4% | rising |
| 34 | Seychelles | 96.8% | 2018 | up 2.2% | rising |
| 35 | Kuwait | 96.5% | 2018 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 36 | Sao Tome and Principe | 96.3% | 2018 | up 20.8% | rising |
| 37 | Suriname | 96.2% | 2018 | up 0.6% | flat |
| 38 | Vietnam | 96.1% | 2018 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 39 | Paraguay | 95.7% | 2018 | up 1.3% | rising |
| 40 | Colombia | 95.3% | 2018 | up 1.8% | rising |
| 41 | Ecuador | 94.7% | 2017 | up 0.3% | rising |
| 42 | Thailand | 94.7% | 2018 | down 2.1% | flat |
| 43 | Malta | 93.9% | 2018 | up 3.0% | rising |
| 44 | Dominican Republic | 93.7% | 2016 | up 6.9% | rising |
| 45 | Brazil | 93.6% | 2018 | up 4.4% | rising |
| 46 | Qatar | 93.1% | 2017 | up 4.2% | rising |
| 47 | Sri Lanka | 92.7% | 2018 | up 0.8% | flat |
| 48 | Iran | 92.3% | 2016 | up 5.3% | rising |
| 49 | El Salvador | 91.8% | 2018 | up 5.4% | rising |
| 50 | Namibia | 91.5% | 2018 | up 26.5% | rising |
| 51 | Zambia | 89.8% | 2018 | up 24.1% | rising |
| 52 | Algeria | 89.4% | 2018 | up 8.5% | rising |
| 53 | Laos | 89.2% | 2015 | up 9.9% | rising |
| 54 | Tunisia | 88.3% | 2014 | up 4.0% | rising |
| 55 | South Africa | 87.9% | 2017 | down 2.7% | rising |
| 56 | Vanuatu | 87.6% | 2018 | up 12.5% | rising |
| 57 | Eswatini | 86.7% | 2018 | up 5.7% | rising |
| 58 | Honduras | 86.7% | 2018 | up 4.6% | rising |
| 59 | Guatemala | 85.6% | 2014 | up 17.7% | rising |
| 60 | Cambodia | 84.7% | 2015 | up 1.0% | flat |
| 61 | Tanzania | 83.9% | 2015 | up 5.0% | rising |
| 62 | Morocco | 82.5% | 2018 | up 24.7% | rising |
| 63 | Cameroon | 81.3% | 2018 | up 5.6% | rising |
| 64 | India | 80.7% | 2018 | up 11.0% | rising |
| 65 | Uganda | 79.2% | 2018 | down 1.4% | rising |
| 66 | Rwanda | 76.0% | 2018 | up 10.2% | rising |
| 67 | Madagascar | 75.4% | 2018 | up 11.1% | flat |
| 68 | Togo | 74.7% | 2015 | up 11.5% | rising |
| 69 | Nepal | 74.4% | 2018 | up 10.1% | rising |
| 70 | Egypt | 74.1% | 2017 | up 4.8% | rising |
| 71 | Bangladesh | 73.7% | 2019 | up 50.2% | rising |
| 72 | Mozambique | 72.0% | 2017 | up 13.2% | rising |
| 73 | Burundi | 70.7% | 2017 | up 51.9% | rising |
| 74 | Malawi | 68.8% | 2015 | down 3.6% | rising |
| 75 | Pakistan | 68.4% | 2017 | up 9.1% | rising |
| 76 | Nigeria | 67.8% | 2018 | up 14.9% | flat |
| 77 | Senegal | 60.3% | 2017 | up 16.7% | rising |
| 78 | Central African Republic | 50.4% | 2018 | down 1.9% | rising |
| 79 | Cote d'Ivoire | 49.7% | 2018 | down 0.5% | rising |
| 80 | Benin | 47.7% | 2018 | up 30.2% | rising |
| 81 | Burkina Faso | 44.4% | 2018 | up 26.0% | rising |
| 82 | Mali | 42.7% | 2018 | up 43.9% | rising |
| 83 | Chad | 28.4% | 2016 | down 18.6% | 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) 99.7%
- Europe & Central Asia (IDA & IBRD countries) 99.7%
- Central Europe and the Baltics 99.4%
- Europe & Central Asia 99.3%
- East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) 98.2%
- East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) 98.1%
- Late-demographic dividend 98.1%
- East Asia & Pacific 97.9%
- Upper middle income 97.6%
- Pacific island small states 95.8%
- Latin America & Caribbean 95.0%
- Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 95.0%
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 94.9%
- IBRD only 92.6%
- Middle income 90.1%
- World 90.0%
- Caribbean Small States 89.8%
- Small states 88.7%
- Low & middle income 88.4%
- IDA & IBRD total 88.1%
- Other small states 88.0%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 85.9%
- Early-demographic dividend 84.5%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 83.0%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) 82.8%
- Lower middle income 81.2%
- Arab World 80.2%
- South Asia 79.1%
- South Asia (IDA & IBRD) 79.1%
- IDA blend 74.0%
- IDA total 70.3%
- Sub-Saharan Africa 70.1%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 70.1%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 70.1%
- IDA only 69.6%
- Least developed countries 68.7%
- Pre-demographic dividend 67.8%
- Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 66.8%
- Low income 65.8%
About this data
Percentage of the male 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 male literates aged 25-64 years by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.