Adult literacy rate by country, 2022
People aged 15 and above who can both read and write, with understanding, a short simple statement about their everyday life. Data come mainly from censuses and household surveys and are not available every year.
45 places ranked for 2022. Highest: Tuvalu (100.0%). Lowest: Niger (35.6%). The median is 90.8%.
Highest 10
- 1. Tuvalu 100.0%
- 2. Uzbekistan 100.0%
- 3. San Marino 99.9%
- 4. Turkmenistan 99.9%
- 5. Armenia 99.8%
- 6. Georgia 99.6%
- 7. Serbia 99.3%
- 8. Uruguay 98.8%
- 9. Mongolia 98.7%
- 10. United Arab Emirates 98.3%
Lowest 10
- 45. Niger 35.6%
- 44. Burkina Faso 40.9%
- 43. Benin 51.4%
- 42. Somalia, Fed. Rep. 54.1%
- 41. Ethiopia 60.5%
- 40. Mozambique 61.7%
- 39. Guinea-Bissau 63.9%
- 38. Bhutan 64.9%
- 37. Timor-Leste 69.4%
- 36. Togo 72.6%
The chart loads when you scroll to it.
The chart shows the 40 highest values; the table lists all 45. Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators.
In short
- Among the 45 countries with a value for 2022, the highest is Tuvalu (100.0%) and the lowest Niger (35.6%).
- Half of the countries are above 90.8% and half below.
- From 2021 to 2022 the value rose in 3 countries and fell in 1.
- The figure for the world was 87.4% in 2022, against 86.5% in 2017 (+0.9 percentage points).
Full ranking
| # | Country | Value | Period | Relative size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tuvalu | 100.0% | 2022 | |
| 2 | Uzbekistan | 100.0% | 2022 | |
| 3 | San Marino | 99.9% | 2022 | |
| 4 | Turkmenistan | 99.9% | 2022 | |
| 5 | Armenia | 99.8% | 2022 | |
| 6 | Georgia | 99.6% | 2022 | |
| 7 | Serbia | 99.3% | 2022 | |
| 8 | Uruguay | 98.8% | 2022 | |
| 9 | Mongolia | 98.7% | 2022 | |
| 10 | United Arab Emirates | 98.3% | 2022 | |
| 11 | Bahrain | 97.9% | 2022 | |
| 12 | West Bank and Gaza | 97.8% | 2022 | |
| 13 | Oman | 97.3% | 2022 | |
| 14 | Ecuador | 96.3% | 2022 | |
| 15 | Viet Nam | 96.1% | 2022 | |
| 16 | Malaysia | 95.8% | 2022 | |
| 17 | Colombia | 95.3% | 2022 | |
| 18 | Mexico | 95.1% | 2022 | |
| 19 | Brazil | 94.4% | 2022 | |
| 20 | Dominican Republic | 93.7% | 2022 | |
| 21 | Sri Lanka | 92.5% | 2022 | |
| 22 | Thailand | 91.1% | 2022 | |
| 23 | Eswatini | 90.8% | 2022 | |
| 24 | El Salvador | 89.4% | 2022 | |
| 25 | Iran | 88.6% | 2022 | |
| 26 | Honduras | 88.2% | 2022 | |
| 27 | Belize | 87.9% | 2022 | |
| 28 | Papua New Guinea | 87.0% | 2022 | |
| 29 | Guatemala | 83.0% | 2022 | |
| 30 | Zambia | 80.0% | 2022 | |
| 31 | Egypt | 79.5% | 2022 | |
| 32 | Bangladesh | 79.0% | 2022 | |
| 33 | Rwanda | 78.8% | 2022 | |
| 34 | Tanzania | 78.2% | 2022 | |
| 35 | India | 76.3% | 2022 | |
| 36 | Togo | 72.6% | 2022 | |
| 37 | Timor-Leste | 69.4% | 2022 | |
| 38 | Bhutan | 64.9% | 2022 | |
| 39 | Guinea-Bissau | 63.9% | 2022 | |
| 40 | Mozambique | 61.7% | 2022 | |
| 41 | Ethiopia | 60.5% | 2022 | |
| 42 | Somalia, Fed. Rep. | 54.1% | 2022 | |
| 43 | Benin | 51.4% | 2022 | |
| 44 | Burkina Faso | 40.9% | 2022 | |
| 45 | Niger | 35.6% | 2022 |
Places are ordered from the highest to the lowest value. Group medians on this site are the middle value of the members with data for the same year; they are not official aggregates.
How this ranking works
Every country is ranked on its value for 2022, the latest period that most countries have, so all values are for the same point in time. Countries without a value for 2022 are left out. Groups and aggregates such as the European Union are not ranked. Values are as published by World Bank; the ranking is a plain ordering from the highest to the lowest value and says nothing about whether a high value is good or bad.
Earlier years: use the year selector above. Methodology · Coverage and freshness