Country Comparison > Literacy

Rank	Country	Literacy (%)
1	Andorra	100
2	Greenland	100
3	Korea, North	100
4	Uzbekistan	100
5	Latvia	99.9
6	Lithuania	99.8
7	Kazakhstan	99.8
8	Poland	99.8
9	Tajikistan	99.8
10	Cuba	99.8
11	Estonia	99.8
12	Azerbaijan	99.8
13	Belarus	99.8
14	Ukraine	99.8
15	Turkmenistan	99.7
16	Armenia	99.7
17	Russia	99.7
18	Slovenia	99.7
19	Kyrgyzstan	99.6
20	Barbados	99.6
21	Georgia	99.4
22	Moldova	99.4
23	Tonga	99.4
24	Croatia	99.3
25	Italy	99.2
26	Hungary	99.1
27	Fiji	99.1
28	Samoa	99.1
29	Czech Republic	99
30	Argentina	99
31	Antigua and Barbuda	99
32	Trinidad and Tobago	99
33	Cayman Islands	98.9
34	Romania	98.8
35	Montenegro	98.8
36	Uruguay	98.7
37	Grenada	98.6
38	Bosnia and Herzegovina	98.5
39	Taiwan	98.5
40	Bulgaria	98.4
41	Mongolia	98.4
42	Spain	98.4
43	Serbia	98.3
44	Marshall Islands	98.3
45	Philippines	98.2
46	Jordan	98.2
47	Albania	98.1
48	Korea, South	98
49	Costa Rica	97.9
50	Aruba	97.8
51	Israel	97.8
52	Macedonia	97.8
53	Maldives	97.7
54	Greece	97.7
55	Bahrain	97.5
56	Singapore	97.3
57	Brunei	97.2
58	Gaza Strip	97.2
59	West Bank	97.2
60	Venezuela	97.1
61	New Caledonia	96.9
62	China	96.8
63	Palau	96.6
64	Macau	96.5
65	Chile	96.4
66	Turkey	96.2
67	Kuwait	96.1
68	Portugal	96.1
69	Seychelles	95.9
70	Oman	95.7
71	Indonesia	95.7
72	Mexico	95.4
73	Panama	95.4
74	Saudi Arabia	95.3
75	Equatorial Guinea	95.3
76	Colombia	95.1
77	Lebanon	95.1
78	Vietnam	95
79	Malta	94.5
80	Peru	94.4
81	Suriname	94.4
82	Paraguay	94
83	Dominican Republic	93.8
84	United Arab Emirates	93.8
85	Malaysia	93.7
86	Qatar	93.5
87	Brazil	93.2
88	Thailand	92.9
89	Ecuador	92.8
90	Sao Tome and Principe	92.8
91	Bolivia	92.5
92	Puerto Rico	92.4
93	Sri Lanka	91.9
94	Namibia	91.5
95	Mauritius	91.3
96	Libya	91
97	Jamaica	88.7
98	Botswana	88.5
99	El Salvador	88.5
100	Guyana	88.5
101	Swaziland	88.4
102	Vanuatu	87.5
103	Honduras	87.2
104	South Africa	87
105	Cape Verde	86.8
106	Zambia	86.7
107	Zimbabwe	86.5
108	Syria	86.4
109	Iran	85.5
110	Gabon	84.7
111	Laos	84.7
112	Nicaragua	82.6
113	Tunisia	81.8
114	Kenya	81.5
115	Guatemala	81.5
116	Algeria	81.4
117	Cambodia	80.5
118	Congo, Republic of the	80.3
119	Lesotho	79.4
120	Tanzania	77.9
121	Cameroon	77.1
122	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	77
123	Ghana	76.6
124	Eritrea	76.6
125	Uganda	76.5
126	Burma	75.6
127	Madagascar	74.8
128	India	74.4
129	Bangladesh	73.9
130	Morocco	73.8
131	Rwanda	73.2
132	Egypt	71.2
133	Angola	71.1
134	Yemen	70.1
135	Burundi	68.4
136	East Timor	68.1
137	Nepal	67.9
138	Bhutan	66.6
139	Papua New Guinea	64.2
140	Togo	63.7
141	Malawi	62.1
142	Nigeria	62
143	Haiti	61.7
144	Mozambique	60.7
145	Sudan	60.7
146	Guinea-Bissau	59.9
147	Pakistan	59.1
148	Comoros	58.8
149	Mauritania	53.5
150	Senegal	51.9
151	Ethiopia	51.8
152	Gambia, The	50.8
153	Iraq	50.1
154	Liberia	48.3
155	Sierra Leone	43.2
156	Afghanistan	43
157	Benin	42.4
158	Burkina Faso	41.2
159	Central African Republic	37.4
160	Mali	35.5
161	South Sudan	34.5
162	Guinea	30.4
163	Chad	22.3
164	Niger	19.1

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, 2020

See also: Literacy map

Related News

Too many used books? Want to help literacy efforts? Here's what to do.
Mashable on MSN.com - 5/25/2022 9:00:00 AM
That all effects national literacy, with 43 million adults possessing low literacy skills, according to the National Center of Education. What does this mean for those of us who are cleaning out our libraries this spring?

Applications open today for a Global Youth Citizenship Program by World Literacy Foundation
Morningstar%2c Inc. - 5/9/2022 2:39:00 PM
The World Literacy Foundation is a not-for-profit striving to eradicate illiteracy by 2040. It works in 52 countries and reach 500 million people each year. 770 million people on the globe are ...

BWIRE: Media information literacy next frontier in countering violent extremism
MSN - 5/26/2022 1:40:00 PM
Information including media content regulation in Kenya is as problematic as in the rest of the world, given the rapidly expanding ... policy and strategy on a media and information literacy for the country to make meaningful use of the information and ...