List of countries by literacy rate

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List of countries by literacy rate, as included in the United Nations Development Programme Report 2007/2008.^[1][2]

Adult literacy rate. This Report uses data on adult literacy rates from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS) April 2007 Assessment (UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2007a), that combines direct national estimates with recent estimates based on its Global age-specific literacy projections model developed in 2007. The national estimates, made available through targeted efforts by UIS to collect recent literacy data from countries, are obtained from national censuses or surveys between 1995 and 2005. Where recent estimates are not available, older UIS estimates, produced in July 2002 and based mainly on national data collected before 1995, have been used instead.

Many high-income countries, having attained high levels of literacy, no longer collect basic literacy statistics and thus are not included in the UIS data. In calculating the HDI, a literacy rate of 99.0% is assumed for high-income countries that do not report adult literacy information.

In collecting literacy data, many countries estimate the number of literate people based on self-reported data. Some use educational attainment data as a proxy, but measures of school attendance or grade completion may differ. Because definitions and data collection methods vary across countries, literacy estimates should be used with caution.

— United Nations Development Programme Report 2007/2008.^[3][4] page 226

Rank	Country	Literacy rate [b]
1	Georgia	100.0 [d][v]
2	Cuba	99.8 [d]
2	Estonia	99.8 [d]
2	Poland	99.8 [d][j]
5	Barbados	99.7 [d][j]
5	Latvia	99.7 [d]
5	Slovenia	99.7 [d][l]
8	Belarus	99.6 [d]
8	Lithuania	99.6 [d]
10	Kazakhstan	99.5 [d]
10	Tajikistan	99.5 [d]
12	Armenia	99.4 [d]
12	Hungary	99.4 [d][j]
12	Russia	99.4 [d]
12	Ukraine	99.4 [d]
12	Uzbekistan	99.4 [d][j]
17	Moldova	99.1 [d][l]
18	Australia	99.0 [d]
18	Austria	99.0 [d]
18	Belgium	99.0 [d]
18	Canada	99.0 [d]
18	Czech Republic	99.0 [d]
18	Denmark	99.0 [d]
18	Finland	99.0 [d]
18	France	99.0 [d]
18	Germany	99.0 [d]
18	Guyana	99.0 [j]
18	Iceland	99.0 [d]
18	Ireland	99.0 [d]
18	Japan	99.0 [d]
18	Republic of Korea	99.0 [d]
18	Luxembourg	99.0 [d]
18	Netherlands	99.0 [d]
18	New Zealand	99.0 [d]
18	Norway	99.0 [d]
18	Slovakia	99.0 [d]
18	Spain	99.0 [d]
18	Sweden	99.0 [d]
18	Switzerland	99.0 [d]
18	United Kingdom	99.0 [d]
18	United States See also: Literacy in the United States	99.0 [d]
42	Tonga	98.9
43	Azerbaijan	98.8
43	Turkmenistan	98.8
45	Albania	98.7
45	Kyrgyzstan	98.7
47	Samoa	98.6 [l]
48	Italy	98.4
48	Trinidad and Tobago	98.4 [l]
50	Bulgaria	98.2
51	Croatia	98.1
52	Mongolia	97.8
52	Saint Kitts and Nevis	97.8 [k]
54	Romania	97.3
55	Argentina	97.2
56	Israel	97.1 [k]
57	Cyprus	96.8
57	Uruguay	96.8
59	Bosnia and Herzegovina	96.7
60	Maldives	96.3
61	Macedonia	96.1
62	Greece	96.0
62	Grenada	96.0 [q]
64	Bahamas	95.8 [j]
65	Chile	95.7
66	Costa Rica	94.9
67	Saint Lucia	94.8 [q]
68	Hong Kong	94.6 [j]
69	Fiji	94.4 [j]
70	Portugal	93.8 [l]
71	Paraguay	93.5 [l]
72	Kuwait	93.3
73	Venezuela	93.0
74	Colombia	92.8
75	Malta	92.8
76	Brunei Darussalam	92.7
77	Philippines	92.6
77	Thailand	92.6
79	Singapore	92.5
80	Palestinian Authority	92.4
81	Panama	91.9
82	Seychelles	91.8
83	Mexico	91.6
84	Jordan	91.1
85	Ecuador	91.0
86	China	90.9
87	Sri Lanka	90.7 [w]
88	Indonesia	90.4
89	Vietnam	90.3
90	Myanmar	89.9
91	Suriname	89.6
92	Zimbabwe	89.4 [l]
93	Qatar	89.0
94	Malaysia	88.7
94	United Arab Emirates	88.7 [l]
96	Brazil	88.6
97	Lebanon	88.3 [j]
98	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	88.1 [q]
99	Dominica	88.0 [q]
100	Peru	87.9
101	Turkey	87.4
102	Dominican Republic	87.0
102	Equatorial Guinea	87.0
104	Bolivia	86.7
105	Bahrain	86.5
106	Antigua and Barbuda	85.8 [q]
107	Namibia	85.0
108	Sao Tome and Principe	84.9
109	Congo	84.7 [l]
110	Mauritius	84.3
111	Libya	84.2 [l]
112	Gabon	84.0 [l]
113	Saudi Arabia	82.9
114	Iran	82.4
114	South Africa	82.4
116	Lesotho	82.2
117	Oman	81.4
118	Botswana	81.2
118	Cape Verde	81.2 [l]
120	Syria	80.8
121	El Salvador	80.6 [l]
122	Honduras	80.0
123	Jamaica	79.9
124	Swaziland	79.6
125	Nicaragua	76.7
127	Solomon Islands	76.6 [k]
128	Belize	75.1 [q]
129	Tunisia	74.3
120	Vanuatu	74.0
130	Cambodia	73.6
131	Kenya	73.6
132	Egypt	71.4
133	Madagascar	70.7
134	Djibouti	70.3 [j]
135	Algeria	69.9
136	Tanzania	69.4
137	Guatemala	69.1
138	Nigeria	69.1 [l]
139	Laos	68.7
140	Zambia	68.0
141	Cameroon	67.9
142	Angola	67.4
143	Congo	67.2
144	Uganda	66.8
145	Rwanda	64.9
146	Malawi	64.1
147	India	61.0
148	Sudan	60.9 [aa]
149	Eritrea	60.5 [j]
150	Burundi	59.3
151	Ghana	57.9
152	Papua New Guinea	57.3
153	Comoros	56.8 [j]
154	Haiti	54.8 [j]
155	Yemen	54.1 [l]
156	Togo	53.2
157	Morocco	52.3
158	Mauritania	51.2
159	Timor-Leste	50.1 [ab]
160	Pakistan	49.9
161	Côte d'Ivoire	48.7
162	Central African Republic	48.6
162	Nepal	48.6
164	Bangladesh	47.5
165	Bhutan	47.0 [v]
166	Guinea-Bissau	44.8 [j]
167	Gambia	42.5 [j]
168	Senegal	39.3
169	Mozambique	38.7
170	Ethiopia	35.9
171	Sierra Leone	34.8
172	Benin	34.7
173	Guinea	29.5
174	Niger	28.7
175	Chad	25.7
176	Mali	24.0
177	Burkina Faso	23.6

[edit] Literacy based on Geography and Economy

Developing countries	76.6
Least developed countries	53.9
Arab States	70.3
East Asia and the Pacific	90.7
Latin America and the Caribbean	90.3
South Asia	59.5
Sub-Saharan Africa	60.3
Central and Eastern Europe and the CIS	99.0
--
OECD	99.0
High-income OECD	99.0
High human development	99.0
Medium human development	78.0
Low human development	54.4
--
High income	99.0
Middle income	89.9
Low income	60.2
--
World	78.6

[edit] Notes

• ^  United Nations Development Program Human Development Report 2007/2008 Table 1.
• ^  Tables in spreadsheet format can be found here
• ^b  Data refer to national literacy estimates from censuses or surveys conducted between 1995 and 2005, unless otherwise specified. Due to differences in methodology and timeliness of underlying data, comparisons across countries and over time should be made with caution. For more details, see [5].
• ^d  For purposes of calculating the HDI, a value of 99.0% was applied.
• ^v  UNICEF 2004.
• ^l  UNESCO Institute for Statistics estimates based on its Global Age-specific Literacy Projections model, April 2007.
• ^j  In the absence of recent data, estimates from UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2003, based on outdated census or survey information, were used and should be interpreted with caution: Bahamas 95.8, Barbados 99.7, Comoros 56.8, Djibouti 70.3, Eritrea 60.5, Fiji 94.4, Gambia 42.5, Guinea-Bissau 44.8, Guyana 99.0, Haiti 54.8, Hong Kong, China (SAR) 94.6, Hungary 99.4, Lebanon 88.3, Poland 99.8 and Uzbekistan 99.4.
• ^k  Data are from national sources.
• ^q  Data are from the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community, based on national sources.
• ^w  Data refer to 18 of the 25 states of the country only.
• ^aa  Data refer to North Sudan only.
• ^ab  UNDP 2006.

[edit] See also

• Literacy
• International Literacy Day
• Literacy in India

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