Literacy rate, adult female (% of females ages 15 and above) - Country Ranking

Definition: Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (http://uis.unesco.org/)

See also: Thematic map, Time series comparison

Find indicator:
Rank Country Value Year
1 Uzbekistan 100.00 2019
2 Dem. People's Rep. Korea 100.00 2008
3 Ukraine 99.96 2012
4 Estonia 99.91 2011
5 Latvia 99.91 2018
6 Belarus 99.88 2019
7 Lithuania 99.83 2011
8 Cuba 99.80 2012
9 Armenia 99.74 2020
10 Kazakhstan 99.74 2018
11 Russia 99.73 2018
12 Azerbaijan 99.73 2019
13 Tajikistan 99.70 2014
14 Slovenia 99.60 2014
14 Barbados 99.60 2014
14 Turkmenistan 99.60 2014
17 Kyrgyz Republic 99.50 2018
18 Tonga 99.48 2018
19 Georgia 99.45 2019
20 Antigua and Barbuda 99.42 2015
21 Samoa 99.25 2018
22 Mongolia 99.24 2020
23 Moldova 99.14 2014
24 Serbia 99.12 2019
25 Hungary 99.10 2014
26 Argentina 99.06 2018
27 Uruguay 99.04 2019
28 Cayman Islands 99.02 2007
29 Italy 98.97 2018
30 Croatia 98.67 2011
31 Grenada 98.60 2014
32 Romania 98.60 2018
33 Trinidad and Tobago 98.30 2010
34 Montenegro 98.27 2018
35 Poland 98.25 2008
36 Spain 98.19 2020
37 Cyprus 98.12 2011
38 Bulgaria 97.98 2011
39 Costa Rica 97.92 2018
40 Jordan 97.83 2018
41 Albania 97.76 2018
42 Korea 97.62 2008
43 North Macedonia 97.61 2020
44 New Caledonia 97.50 2014
45 Greece 97.39 2018
46 Venezuela 97.21 2016
47 United Arab Emirates 96.86 2019
48 Philippines 96.85 2019
49 Seychelles 96.35 2018
50 Palau 96.34 2015
51 Chile 96.33 2017
52 Brunei 96.30 2018
53 Singapore 96.13 2019
54 Saudi Arabia 96.05 2020
55 Malta 95.99 2018
56 Colombia 95.88 2020
57 St. Vincent and the Grenadines 95.50 1970
58 Panama 95.36 2019
59 Kuwait 95.35 2020
60 China 95.16 2018
61 Portugal 95.07 2018
62 Macao SAR, China 95.03 2016
63 Bosnia and Herzegovina 94.91 2013
64 Qatar 94.71 2017
65 Vietnam 94.57 2019
66 Indonesia 94.55 2020
67 South Africa 94.53 2019
68 Mexico 94.50 2020
69 Turkey 94.42 2019
70 Paraguay 94.18 2020
71 Dominican Republic 93.76 2016
72 Malaysia 93.65 2019
73 Brazil 93.43 2018
74 Lebanon 93.31 2018
75 Suriname 92.71 2018
76 Jamaica 92.70 2014
77 Oman 92.69 2018
78 Ecuador 92.49 2020
79 Thailand 92.43 2018
80 Puerto Rico 92.39 2017
81 Peru 92.02 2020
82 Sri Lanka 91.58 2019
83 Namibia 91.44 2018
84 Equatorial Guinea 90.68 2010
85 São Tomé and Principe 89.52 2018
86 Mauritius 89.37 2018
87 Bahrain 89.01 2010
88 Honduras 88.73 2019
89 Israel 88.67 1983
90 Bolivia 88.58 2015
91 Eswatini 88.54 2018
92 Zimbabwe 88.28 2014
93 Botswana 87.45 2013
94 El Salvador 87.32 2019
95 Côte d'Ivoire 86.74 2019
96 Vanuatu 86.71 2018
97 Myanmar 86.27 2019
98 Guyana 85.03 2014
99 Lesotho 84.93 2014
100 Gabon 83.42 2018
101 Zambia 83.08 2018
102 Nicaragua 82.78 2015
103 Cabo Verde 82.04 2015
104 Iran 80.79 2016
105 Iraq 79.90 2017
106 Lao PDR 79.39 2015
107 Kenya 78.19 2018
108 Libya 77.80 2004
109 Belize 77.12 2000
110 Guatemala 76.72 2018
111 Algeria 75.32 2018
112 Madagascar 75.07 2018
113 Cambodia 75.03 2015
114 Congo 74.62 2018
115 Ghana 74.47 2018
116 Syrian Arab Republic 73.63 2004
117 Tanzania 73.09 2015
118 Tunisia 72.22 2014
119 Bangladesh 72.00 2020
120 Cameroon 71.59 2018
121 Uganda 70.84 2018
122 Rwanda 69.39 2018
123 Solomon Islands 69.00 2009
124 Eritrea 68.95 2018
125 Dem. Rep. Congo 66.50 2016
126 India 65.79 2018
127 Egypt 65.51 2017
128 Morocco 64.59 2018
129 Timor-Leste 64.21 2018
130 Burundi 61.22 2017
131 Nepal 59.72 2018
132 Haiti 58.30 2016
133 Papua New Guinea 57.90 2010
134 Bhutan 57.08 2017
135 Sudan 56.06 2018
136 Malawi 55.20 2015
137 Togo 55.05 2019
138 Angola 53.41 2014
139 Comoros 52.96 2018
140 Nigeria 52.66 2018
141 Mozambique 50.30 2017
142 Pakistan 46.49 2019
143 Ethiopia 44.42 2017
144 Mauritania 43.35 2017
145 The Gambia 41.58 2015
146 Senegal 39.80 2017
147 Yemen 35.00 2004
148 Sierra Leone 34.85 2018
149 Liberia 34.09 2017
150 Benin 31.07 2018
151 Burkina Faso 31.04 2018
152 Guinea-Bissau 30.77 2014
153 Guinea 27.69 2018
154 Niger 26.65 2018
155 Central African Republic 25.76 2018
156 Afghanistan 22.60 2021
157 Mali 22.08 2020
158 Chad 13.96 2016
159 Somalia 3.69 1972

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Development Relevance: Literacy rate is an outcome indicator to evaluate educational attainment. This data can predict the quality of future labor force and can be used in ensuring policies for life skills for men and women. It can be also used as a proxy instrument to see the effectiveness of education system; a high literacy rate suggests the capacity of an education system to provide a large population with opportunities to acquire literacy skills. The accumulated achievement of education is fundamental for further intellectual growth and social and economic development, although it doesn't necessarily ensure the quality of education. Literate women implies that they can seek and use information for the betterment of the health, nutrition and education of their household members. Literate women are also empowered to play a meaningful role.

Limitations and Exceptions: In practice, literacy is difficult to measure. Estimating literacy rates requires census or survey measurements under controlled conditions. Many countries report the number of literate people from self-reported data. Some use educational attainment data as a proxy but apply different lengths of school attendance or levels of completion. Ant there is a trend among recent national and international surveys toward using a direct reading test of literacy skills. Because definitions and methods of data collection differ across countries, data should be used cautiously.

Other Notes: Data retrieved via API in March 2019. For detailed information on the observation level (e.g. National Estimation, UIS Estimation, or Category not applicable), please visit UIS.Stat (http://data.uis.unesco.org/).

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Literacy statistics for most countries cover the population ages 15 and older, but some include younger ages or are confined to age ranges that tend to inflate literacy rates. The youth literacy rate for ages 15-24 reflects recent progress in education. It measures the accumulated outcomes of primary education over the previous 10 years or so by indicating the proportion of the population who have passed through the primary education system and acquired basic literacy and numeracy skills. Generally, literacy also encompasses numeracy, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. Data on literacy are compiled by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics based on national censuses and household surveys and, for countries without recent literacy data, using the Global Age-Specific Literacy Projection Model (GALP). For detailed information, see www.uis.unesco.org.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual