Sub-Saharan Africa Compared by Education > Literacy > Total population

DEFINITION: This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females. There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition - the ability to read and write at a specified age. Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of our source. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons.

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#	COUNTRY	AMOUNT	DATE
1	Seychelles	91.9%	2003
2	Zimbabwe	90.7%	2003
3	South Africa	86.4%	2003
4	Equatorial Guinea	85.7%	2003
5	Mauritius	85.6%	2003
6	Kenya	85.1%	2003
7	Sao Tome and Principe	84.9%	2001
8	Lesotho	84.8%	2003
9	Namibia	84%	2003
10	Swaziland	81.6%	2003
11	Botswana	81.2%	2003
12	Zambia	80.6%	2003
13	Cameroon	79%	2003
14	Tanzania	78.2%	2003
15	Cape Verde	76.6%	2003
16	Ghana	74.8%	2003
17	Rwanda	70.4%	2003
18	Uganda	69.9%	2003
19	Madagascar	68.9%	2003
20	Nigeria	68%	2003
21	Djibouti	67.9%	2003
22	Angola	67.4%	2001
23	Democratic Republic of the Congo	65.5%	2003
24	Gabon	63.2%	1995
25	Malawi	62.7%	2003
26	Sudan	61.1%	2003
27	Togo	60.9%	2003
28	Eritrea	58.6%	2003
29	Liberia	57.5%	2003
30	Comoros	56.5%	2003
31	Burundi	51.6%	2003
32	Central African Republic	51%	2003
33	Cote d'Ivoire	50.9%	2003
34	Mozambique	47.8%	2003
35	Chad	47.5%	2003
36	Mali	46.4%	2003
37	Ethiopia	42.7%	2003
38	Guinea-Bissau	42.4%	2003
39	Mauritania	41.7%	2003
40	Senegal	40.2%	2003
41	The Gambia	40.1%	2003
42	Somalia	37.8%	2001
43	Sierra Leone	35.1%	2004
44	Benin	34.7%	2002
45	Guinea	29.5%	2003
46	Niger	28.7%	2005
47	Burkina Faso	21.8%	2003

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