Country Comparison > Literacy

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Rank	Country	Literacy (%)
1	Finland	100
2	Greenland	100
3	Luxembourg	100
4	Latvia	99.8
5	Cuba	99.8
6	Estonia	99.8
7	Azerbaijan	99.8
8	Barbados	99.7
9	Georgia	99.7
10	Lithuania	99.7
11	Slovenia	99.7
12	Tajikistan	99.7
13	Ukraine	99.7
14	Samoa	99.7
15	Russia	99.6
16	Slovakia	99.6
17	Armenia	99.6
18	Belarus	99.6
19	Kazakhstan	99.5
20	Poland	99.5
21	Uzbekistan	99.3
22	United States	99
23	United Kingdom	99
24	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	99
25	Sweden	99
26	Switzerland	99
27	New Zealand	99
28	Netherlands	99
29	Monaco	99
30	Korea, North	99
31	Hungary	99
32	Iceland	99
33	Japan	99
34	Canada	99
35	Australia	99
36	Belgium	99
37	Germany	99
38	Guam	99
39	Czech Republic	99
40	France	99
41	Ireland	99
42	Denmark	99
43	Tonga	98.9
44	Turkmenistan	98.8
45	Croatia	98.8
46	Kyrgyzstan	98.7
47	Albania	98.7
48	Trinidad and Tobago	98.6
49	Moldova	98.5
50	Montenegro	98.4
51	Italy	98.4
52	Bulgaria	98.4
53	Cayman Islands	98
54	Bermuda	98
55	French Polynesia	98
56	Turks and Caicos Islands	98
57	Uruguay	98
58	Serbia	97.9
59	Bosnia and Herzegovina	97.9
60	Korea, South	97.9
61	Saint Kitts and Nevis	97.8
62	British Virgin Islands	97.8
63	Romania	97.7
64	Spain	97.7
65	Mongolia	97.4
66	Macedonia	97.3
67	Aruba	97.3
68	Argentina	97.2
69	Israel	97.1
70	Montserrat	97
71	American Samoa	97
72	Northern Mariana Islands	97
73	Saint Helena	97
74	Qatar	96.3
75	New Caledonia	96.2
76	Taiwan	96.1
77	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	96
78	Greece	96
79	Grenada	96
80	Chile	95.7
81	Bahamas, The	95.6
82	Portugal	95.2
83	Anguilla	95
84	Costa Rica	94.9
85	Bahrain	94.6
86	Puerto Rico	94.1
87	Vietnam	94
88	Dominica	94
89	Paraguay	94
90	Equatorial Guinea	93.9
91	Maldives	93.8
92	Fiji	93.7
93	Marshall Islands	93.7
94	Hong Kong	93.5
95	Kuwait	93.3
96	Venezuela	93
97	Peru	92.9
98	Malta	92.8
99	Brunei	92.7
100	Jordan	92.6
101	Philippines	92.6
102	Thailand	92.6
103	Singapore	92.5
104	West Bank	92.4
105	Gaza Strip	92.4
106	China	92.2
107	Palau	92
108	Kosovo	91.9
109	Panama	91.9
110	Guyana	91.8
111	Seychelles	91.8
112	Macau	91.3
113	Sri Lanka	91.2
114	Ecuador	91
115	Zimbabwe	90.7
116	Colombia	90.4
117	Indonesia	90.4
118	Saint Lucia	90.1
119	Burma	89.9
120	Lesotho	89.6
121	Suriname	89.6
122	Libya	89.2
123	Micronesia, Federated States of	89
124	Namibia	88.8
125	Malaysia	88.7
126	Brazil	88.6
127	Mauritius	88.5
128	Gabon	88.4
129	Jamaica	87.9
130	Kenya	87.4
131	Lebanon	87.4
132	Turkey	87.4
133	Dominican Republic	87
134	Bolivia	86.7
135	Saudi Arabia	86.6
136	South Africa	86.4
137	Mexico	86.1
138	Antigua and Barbuda	85.8
139	Sao Tome and Principe	84.9
140	Botswana	84.5
141	Cape Verde	84.3
142	Congo, Republic of the	83.8
143	Swaziland	81.6
144	Oman	81.4
145	El Salvador	81.1
146	Zambia	80.6
147	Honduras	80
148	Syria	79.6
149	Iraq	78.2
150	United Arab Emirates	77.9
151	Iran	77
152	Belize	76.9
153	Cameroon	75.9
154	Comoros	74.9
155	Malawi	74.8
156	Tunisia	74.3
157	Vanuatu	74
158	Cambodia	73.6
159	Laos	73
160	Egypt	72
161	Rwanda	71.1
162	Angola	70.1
163	Algeria	69.9
164	Tanzania	69.4
165	Guatemala	69.1
166	Djibouti	67.9
167	Eritrea	67.8
168	Nicaragua	67.5
169	Ghana	67.3
170	Burundi	67.2
171	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	66.8
172	Uganda	66.8
173	Madagascar	64.5
174	Yemen	63.9
175	Nigeria	61.3
176	Sudan	61.1
177	India	61
178	Togo	60.9
179	Liberia	60.8
180	Nepal	60.3
181	East Timor	58.6
182	Mauritania	58
183	Papua New Guinea	57.3
184	Bangladesh	56.8
185	Cote d'Ivoire	56.2
186	Morocco	56.1
187	Mozambique	56.1
188	Central African Republic	56
189	Pakistan	54.9
190	Guinea-Bissau	54.2
191	Haiti	52.9
192	Gambia, The	50
193	Wallis and Futuna	50
194	Bhutan	47
195	Ethiopia	42.7
196	Benin	42.4
197	Guinea	41
198	Senegal	39.3
199	Somalia	37.8
200	Sierra Leone	35.1
201	Chad	34.5
202	Mali	31.1
203	Niger	28.7
204	Afghanistan	28.1
205	Burkina Faso	21.8

Definition: This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of the Factbook. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.

Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of January 1, 2012

See also: Literacy map

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