List of countries by literacy rate

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 effort 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 Human Development Index (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 2009.[3][4] page 171

# Rank Country Literacy rate [b]
1 1  Georgia ˜100.0
2 2  Cuba 99.8
3 2  Estonia 99.8
4 2  Latvia 99.8
5 5  Barbados 99.7 [j]
6 5  Slovenia 99.7 [l]
7 5  Belarus 99.7
8 5  Lithuania 99.7
9 5  Ukraine 99.7
10 5  Armenia 99.7
11 11  Kazakhstan 99.6
12 11  Tajikistan 99.6
13 13  Azerbaijan 99.5
14 13  Turkmenistan 99.5
15 13  Russia 99.5
16 16  Hungary 99.4 [j]
17 17  Kyrgyzstan 99.3
18 17  Poland 99.3 [j]
19 19  Tonga 99.2
20 20  Albania 99.0
21 20  Antigua and Barbuda 99.0 [q]
22 20  Australia 99.0 [d]
23 20  Austria 99.0 [d]
24 20  Belgium 99.0 [d]
25 20  Canada 99.0 [d]
26 20  Czech Republic 99.0 [d]
27 20  North Korea 99.0 [d]
28 20  Denmark 99.0 [d]
29 20  Finland 99.0 [d]
30 20  France 99.0 [d]
31 20  Germany 99.0 [d]
32 20  Guyana 99.0 [j]
33 20  Iceland 99.0 [d]
34 20  Ireland 99.0 [d]
35 20  Japan 99.0 [d]
36 20  South Korea 99.0 [d]
37 20  Luxembourg 99.0 [d]
38 20  Netherlands 99.0 [d]
39 20  New Zealand 99.0 [d]
40 20  Norway 99.0 [d]
41 20  Slovakia 99.0 [d]
42 20  Sweden 99.0 [d]
43 20  Switzerland 99.0 [d]
44 20  United Kingdom 99.0 [d]
45 20  United States See also: Literacy in the United States 99.0 [d]
46 46  Italy 98.9
47 47  Samoa 98.7 [l]
48 47  Trinidad and Tobago 98.7 [l]
49 47  Croatia 98.7
50 50  Bulgaria 98.3
51 51  Spain 97.9 [d]
52 51  Uruguay 97.9
53 53  Saint Kitts and Nevis 97.8 [k]
54 54  Cyprus 97.7
55 55  Romania 97.6
56 55  Argentina 97.6
57 57  Mongolia 97.3
58 58  Israel 97.1 [k]
59 59  Greece 97.1
60 60  Maldives 97.0
61 60  Macedonia 97.0
62 62  Uzbekistan 96.9 [j]
63 63  Bosnia and Herzegovina 96.7
64 64  Chile 96.5
65 65  Serbia 96.4
66 66  Grenada 96.0 [q]
67 67  China 95.9 [k]
68 67  Costa Rica 95.9
69 69  Bahamas 95.8 [j]
70 70  Venezuela 95.2
71 71  Brunei Darussalam 94.9
72 71  Portugal 94.9 [l]
73 73  Saint Lucia 94.8 [q]
74 74  Hong Kong 94.6 [j]
75 74  Paraguay 94.6 [l]
76 76  Kuwait 94.5
77 77  Singapore 94.4
78 77  Fiji 94.4 [j]
79 79  Thailand 94.1
80 80  Panama 93.4
81 80  Philippines 93.4
82 82  Palestinian Authority 93.3 [p]
83 83  Qatar 93.1
84 84  Mexico 92.8
85 85  Colombia 92.7
86 86  Malta 92.4
87 87  Indonesia 92.0
88 88  Malaysia 91.9
89 89  Seychelles 91.8
90 90  Zimbabwe 91.2 [l]
91 91  Jordan 91.1
92 92  Ecuador 91.0
93 93  Sri Lanka 94.2[w]
94 94  Bolivia 90.7
95 95  Suriname 90.4
96 96  Vietnam 90.3
97 97  United Arab Emirates 90.0 [l]
98 97  Brazil 90.0
99 99  Myanmar 89.9
100 100  Peru 89.6
101 100  Lebanon 89.6 [j]
102 102  Dominican Republic 89.1
103 103  Bahrain 88.8
104 104  Turkey 88.7
105 105  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 88.1 [q]
106 106  Dominica 88.0 [q]
107 106  Namibia 88.0
108 106  South Africa 88.0
109 109  Sao Tome and Principe 87.9
110 110  Mauritius 87.4
111 111  Equatorial Guinea 87.0
112 112  Libya 86.8 [l]
113 113  Gabon 86.2 [l]
114 114  Jamaica 86.0
115 115  Saudi Arabia 85.0
116 116  Cape Verde 83.8 [l]
117 117  Honduras 83.6
118 118  Syria 83.1
119 119  Botswana 82.9
120 120  Iran 82.3
121 121  Lesotho 82.2
122 122  El Salvador 82.0 [l]
123 123  Oman 81.4
124 124  Republic of the Congo 81.1 [l]
125 125  Swaziland 79.6
126 126  Vanuatu 78.1
127 127  Tunisia 77.7
128 128  Nicaragua 78.0
129 129  Solomon Islands 76.6 [k]
130 130  Cambodia 76.3
131 131  Algeria 75.4
132 132  Belize 75.1 [q]
133 133  Comoros 75.1 [j]
134 134  India 74.04
135 135  Kenya 73.6
136 135  Uganda 73.6
137 137  Guatemala 73.2
138 138  Tanzania 72.3
139 139  Nigeria 72.0 [l]
140 140  Malawi 71.8
141 141  Madagascar 70.7
142 142  Zambia 70.6
143 143  Djibouti 70.3 [j]
144 144  Laos 68.7
145 145  Cameroon 67.9
146 146  Angola 67.4
147 147  Democratic Republic of the Congo 67.2
148 148  Egypt 66.4
149 149  Ghana 65.0
150 150  Rwanda 64.9
151 151  Guinea-Bissau 64.6 [j]
152 152  Eritrea 67.2 [j]
153 153  Haiti 62.1 [j]
154 154  Sudan 60.9 [aa]
155 155  Burundi 59.3
156 156  Yemen 58.9 [l]
157 157  Pakistan 58.2
158 158  Papua New Guinea 57.8
159 159  Nepal 56.5
160 160  Mauritania 55.8
161 161  Morocco 55.6
162 162  Bangladesh 53.5
163 163  Togo 53.2
164 164  Bhutan 52.8 [v]
165 165  Timor-Leste 50.1 [ab]
166 166  Côte d'Ivoire 48.7
167 167  Central African Republic 48.6
168 168  Mozambique 44.4
169 169  Gambia 42.5 [j]
170 170  Senegal 41.9
171 171  Benin 40.5
172 172  Sierra Leone 38.1
173 173  Ethiopia 35.9
174 174  Chad 31.8
175 175  Guinea 29.5
176 176  Burkina Faso 28.7
177 176  Niger 28.7
178 178  South Sudan 27.0
179 179  Mali 26.2
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