Statistics and indicators on women and men

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Table 4a. Literacy
Last update: December 2009
 
Year
      
Country or area
Women
Men
Women
Men
Afghanistan 2000
13
43
18
51
Albania 2007   a
99
99
99
99
Algeria 2007   a
66
84
91
94
Angola 2001
54
83
63
84
Antigua and Barbuda 2004
99
98
...
...
Argentina 2007   a
98
98
99
99
Armenia 2007   a
99
100
100
100
Aruba 2007   a
98
98
99
99
Azerbaijan 2007
99
100
100
100
Bahrain 2007   a
86
90
100
100
Bangladesh 2007   a
48
59
73
71
Belarus 2007   a
100
100
100
100
Benin 2007   a
28
53
41
63
Bhutan 2005
39
65
68
80
Bolivia 2007
86
96
99
100
Bosnia and Herzegovina 2000
94
99
100
100
Botswana 2007   a
83
83
95
93
Brazil 2007
90
90
99
97
Brunei Darussalam 2007   a
93
96
100
100
Bulgaria 2007   a
98
99
97
98
Burkina Faso 2007
22
37
33
47
Burundi 2000
52
67
70
77
Cambodia 2007   a
68
86
83
90
Cameroon 2001
60
77
...
...
Cape Verde 2007   a
79
89
98
97
Cayman Islands 2007
99
99
99
99
Central African Republic 2000
33
65
47
70
Chad 2007   a
21
43
35
53
Chile 2007   a
96
97
99
99
China 2007   a
90
96
99
99
China, Macao SAR 2006
91
96
100
100
Colombia 2007
93
92
98
97
Comoros 2007   a
70
80
87
92
Costa Rica 2007   a
96
96
98
98
Côte d'Ivoire 2000
39
61
52
71
Croatia 2007   a
98
99
100
100
Cuba 2007   a
100
100
100
100
Cyprus 2007   a
97
99
100
100
Democratic Republic of the Congo 2001
54
81
63
78
Dominican Republic 2007   a
90
89
97
95
Ecuador 2007
82
87
96
95
Egypt 2006
58
75
82
88
El Salvador 2007
80
85
94
93
Equatorial Guinea 2000
80
93
95
95
Eritrea 2007   a
53
76
83
90
Estonia 2007   a
100
100
100
100
Ethiopia 2007   a
23
50
39
62
Gabon 2007   a
82
90
96
98
Ghana 2007   a
58
72
76
80
Greece 2007   a
96
98
99
99
Guatemala 2007   a
68
79
83
88
Guinea 2003
18
43
34
59
Honduras 2007
83
84
95
93
Hungary 2007   a
99
99
99
98
India 2007   a
54
77
77
87
Indonesia 2006
89
95
96
97
Iran, Islamic Republic of 2006
77
87
96
97
Iraq 2000
64
84
80
89
Italy 2007   a
99
99
100
100
Jamaica 2007   a
91
81
98
91
Jordan 2005
87
95
99
99
Kazakhstan 2007   a
99
100
100
100
Kenya 2000
70
78
81
80
Kuwait 2007
93
95
99
98
Kyrgyzstan 2007   a
99
100
100
100
Lao People's Democratic Republic 2005
63
82
79
89
Latvia 2007   a
100
100
100
100
Lebanon 2007
86
93
99
98
Lesotho 2001
90
74
...
...
Liberia 2007   a
51
60
76
68
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya 2007   a
78
94
98
100
Lithuania 2007   a
100
100
100
100
Madagascar 2000
65
77
68
73
Malawi 2007   a
65
79
82
84
Malaysia 2007   a
90
94
98
98
Maldives 2007   a
97
97
98
98
Mali 2006
18
35
31
47
Malta 2005
94
91
99
97
Mauritania 2007   a
48
63
62
70
Mauritius 2007   a
85
90
97
95
Mexico 2007
91
94
98
98
Mongolia 2007   a
98
97
97
94
Morocco 2007   a
43
69
67
84
Mozambique 2007   a
33
57
47
58
Myanmar 2000
86
94
93
96
Namibia 2007   a
87
89
94
91
Nepal 2007   a
44
70
73
85
Netherlands Antilles 2007   a
96
96
98
98
Nicaragua 2005
78
78
89
85
Niger 2005
15
43
23
52
Nigeria 2007   a
64
80
85
89
Occupied Palestinian Territory 2007
90
97
99
99
Oman 2007   a
77
89
98
99
Pakistan 2006
40
68
58
79
Panama 2007   a
93
94
96
97
Papua New Guinea 2007   a
53
62
65
63
Paraguay 2007
93
96
99
99
Peru 2007
85
95
97
98
Philippines 2007   a
94
93
95
94
Poland 2007   a
99
100
99
100
Portugal 2007   a
93
97
100
100
Qatar 2007
90
94
99
99
Republic of Moldova 2007   a
99
100
100
100
Romania 2007   a
97
98
98
97
Russian Federation 2007   a
99
100
100
100
Rwanda 2000
60
71
77
79
Samoa 2007   a
98
99
99
99
Sao Tome and Principe 2007   a
83
93
95
95
Saudi Arabia 2007   a
79
89
96
98
Senegal 2006
33
52
45
58
Seychelles 2002
92
91
99
99
Sierra Leone 2007   a
27
50
44
64
Singapore 2007   a
92
97
100
100
Slovenia 2007   a
100
100
100
100
South Africa 2007   a
87
89
96
95
Spain 2007
97
99
100
100
Sri Lanka 2006
89
93
98
97
Sudan 2000
52
71
71
85
Suriname 2007   a
88
93
95
96
Swaziland 2007   a
84
84
96
92
Syrian Arab Republic 2007   a
76
90
92
95
Tajikistan 2007   a
100
100
100
100
TFYR of Macedonia 2007   a
95
99
99
99
Thailand 2007   a
93
96
98
98
Togo 2000
38
69
64
84
Tonga 2007   a
99
99
100
100
Trinidad and Tobago 2007   a
98
99
100
100
Tunisia 2007   a
69
86
94
97
Turkey 2007
81
96
94
99
Turkmenistan 2007   a
99
100
100
100
Uganda 2007   a
66
82
84
88
Ukraine 2007   a
100
100
100
100
United Arab Emirates 2005
91
89
97
94
United Republic of Tanzania 2007   a
66
79
76
79
Uruguay 2007
98
97
99
98
Uzbekistan 2000
96
98
99
99
Vanuatu 2007   a
76
80
92
92
Venezuela 2007
95
95
99
98
Vietnam 1999
87
94
94
94
Yemen 2007   a
40
77
67
93
Zambia 2007   a
61
81
68
82
Zimbabwe 2007   a
88
94
88
94

 

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 December 2009).

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.