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Literacy Statistics and Indicators on Women and Men
Introduction | Statistics | Standards and methods
Table 4a. Literacy
Last update: December 2009
	Year		Adult (15+) literacy rate		Youth (15-24) literacy rate
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.

Top

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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