United Nations Statistics Division - Demographic and Social Statistics

Statistics and indicators on women and men

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Table 4a. Literacy
Last update: June 2011
			Adult (15+) literacy rate		Youth (15-24) literacy rate
Country or area	Year		Men	Women	Men	Women
Albania	2008		97	95	99	99
Algeria	2006		81	64	94	89
Angola	2009	a	83	58	81	66
Argentina	2009	a	98	98	99	99
Armenia	2009	a	100	99	100	100
Aruba	2009	a	98	98	99	99
Azerbaijan	2007		100	99	100	100
Bahrain	2009	a	92	90	100	100
Bangladesh	2009	a	61	51	74	77
Belarus	2009	a	100	100	100	100
Benin	2009	a	54	29	65	43
Bhutan	2005		65	39	80	68
Bolivia (Plurinational State of)	2008		95	87	99	99
Bosnia and Herzegovina	2009	a	99	96	100	100
Botswana	2009	a	84	84	94	97
Brazil	2008		90	90	97	99
Brunei Darussalam	2009	a	97	94	100	100
Bulgaria	2009	a	99	98	98	97
Burkina Faso	2007		37	22	47	33
Burundi	2009	a	73	61	77	76
Cambodia	2008		85	71	89	86
Cameroon	2007		79	63	89	77
Cape Verde	2009	a	90	80	97	99
Cayman Islands	2007		99	99	99	99
Central African Republic	2009	a	69	42	72	57
Chad	2009	a	44	23	54	39
Chile	2009		99	98	99	99
China	2009	a	97	91	99	99
China, Macao SAR	2006		96	91	100	100
Colombia	2009		93	93	97	98
Comoros	2009	a	80	69	86	85
Congo	2005		…	…	87	78
Costa Rica	2009	a	96	96	98	99
Côte d'Ivoire	2009	a	65	45	72	61
Croatia	2009	a	99	98	100	100
Cuba	2009	a	100	100	100	100
Cyprus	2009	a	99	97	100	100
Democratic People's Republic of Korea	2008		100	100	100	100
Democratic Republic of the Congo	2009	a	77	57	69	62
Dominican Republic	2007		88	88	95	97
Ecuador	2009		87	81	97	97
Egypt	2006		75	58	88	82
El Salvador	2009		87	82	95	95
Equatorial Guinea	2009	a	97	90	98	98
Eritrea	2009	a	78	56	92	86
Estonia	2009	a	100	100	100	100
Ethiopia	2005	a	42	18	56	33
Gabon	2009	a	91	84	99	97
Gambia	2009	a	58	36	71	60
Georgia	2009	a	100	100	100	100
Ghana	2009	a	73	60	81	79
Greece	2009	a	98	96	99	99
Guatemala	2009	a	80	69	89	84
Guinea	2009	a	51	28	68	54
Guinea-Bissau	2009	a	67	38	78	64
Haiti	2006	a	53	45	74	70
Honduras	2007		84	83	93	95
Hungary	2009	a	99	99	99	99
India	2006		75	51	88	74
Indonesia	2008		95	89	100	99
Iran (Islamic Republic of)	2008		89	81	99	99
Iraq	2009	a	86	70	85	80
Italy	2009	a	99	99	100	100
Jamaica	2009	a	81	91	92	98
Jordan	2007		95	89	99	99
Kazakhstan	2009	a	100	100	100	100
Kenya	2009	a	91	84	92	94
Kuwait	2008		95	92	99	99
Kyrgyzstan	2009		100	99	100	100
Lao People's Democratic Republic	2005		82	63	89	79
Latvia	2009	a	100	100	100	100
Lebanon	2007		93	86	98	99
Lesotho	2009	a	83	95	86	98
Liberia	2009	a	64	55	70	81
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	2009	a	95	82	100	100
Lithuania	2009	a	100	100	100	100
Madagascar	2009	a	67	62	66	64
Malawi	2009	a	81	67	87	86
Malaysia	2009	a	95	90	98	99
Maldives	2006		98	98	99	99
Mali	2006		35	18	47	31
Malta	2005		91	94	97	99
Mauritania	2009	a	65	50	71	64
Mauritius	2009	a	91	85	96	98
Mexico	2009		95	92	99	98
Mongolia	2009	a	97	98	95	97
Morocco	2009		69	44	87	72
Mozambique	2009	a	70	41	78	64
Myanmar	2009	a	95	90	96	95
Namibia	2009	a	89	88	91	95
Nepal	2009	a	72	47	87	77
Netherlands Antilles	2009	a	96	96	98	98
Nicaragua	2005		78	78	85	89
Niger	2005		43	15	52	23
Nigeria	2009	a	72	50	78	65
Occupied Palestinian Territory	2009		97	92	99	99
Oman	2008		90	81	98	98
Pakistan	2008		69	40	79	61
Panama	2009	a	94	93	97	96
Papua New Guinea	2009	a	64	57	65	70
Paraguay	2007		96	93	99	99
Peru	2007		95	85	98	97
Philippines	2008		95	96	97	98
Poland	2009	a	100	99	100	100
Portugal	2009	a	97	93	100	100
Puerto Rico	2009	a	90	91	87	88
Qatar	2009		95	93	98	98
Republic of Moldova	2009	a	99	98	99	100
Romania	2009	a	98	97	97	98
Russian Federation	2009	a	100	99	100	100
Rwanda	2009	a	75	67	77	77
Samoa	2009	a	99	99	99	100
Sao Tome and Principe	2009	a	94	84	95	96
Saudi Arabia	2009	a	90	81	99	97
Senegal	2009		62	39	74	56
Serbia	2009	a	99	96	99	99
Seychelles	2009	a	91	92	99	99
Sierra Leone	2009	a	53	30	68	48
Singapore	2009	a	97	92	100	100
Slovenia	2009	a	100	100	100	100
South Africa	2007		91	87	97	98
Spain	2009		98	97	100	100
Sri Lanka	2008		92	89	97	99
Sudan	2009	a	80	61	89	83
Suriname	2008		95	94	99	99
Swaziland	2009	a	88	86	92	95
Syrian Arab Republic	2009	a	90	78	96	93
Tajikistan	2009	a	100	100	100	100
TFYR of Macedonia	2009	a	99	96	99	99
Thailand	2005		96	92	98	98
Togo	2006		70	44	85	68
Tonga	2006		99	99	99	100
Trinidad and Tobago	2009	a	99	98	100	100
Tunisia	2008		86	71	98	96
Turkey	2009		96	85	99	97
Turkmenistan	2009	a	100	99	100	100
Uganda	2006		81	62	87	81
Ukraine	2009	a	100	100	100	100
United Arab Emirates	2005		89	91	94	97
United Republic of Tanzania	2009	a	79	67	78	76
Uruguay	2009		98	99	98	100
Uzbekistan	2009	a	100	99	100	100
Vanuatu	2009	a	84	80	94	94
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)	2007		95	95	98	99
Viet Nam	2009	a	95	91	97	96
Yemen	2009	a	80	45	96	72
Zambia	2009	a	81	61	82	67
Zimbabwe	2009	a	95	89	98	99

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Sources:

UNESCO Institute for Statistics, National literacy rates for youths (15-24) and adults (15+), available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed June 2011).

Footnotes:

...	Not available.
a	UIS estimation.

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Technical notes:

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) defines a literate person as someone who can both read and write with understanding, a short, simple statement on his or her everyday life. A person who can only read but not write, or can write but not read is considered to be illiterate. A person who can only write figures, his or her name or a memorized ritual phrase is also not considered literate.

This definition of literacy is widely used in national population censuses and surveys but its interpretation and application may vary to some extent among countries, depending on national, social and cultural circumstances. Furthermore, this concept of literacy includes persons who, though familiar with the basics of reading and writing, might still be considered functionally illiterate.

For many countries or areas, literacy rates are not available for one or more of the following reasons: (a) illiteracy is believed to have been reduced to minimal levels through several decades of universal primary education, (b) it has not been possible to establish revised estimates following recent mass literacy campaigns, (c) not even a minimal database is available for making rough estimates, or (d) countries have preferred that no estimate be published.

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