Education > Literacy > Female: Countries Compared

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	Holy See (Vatican City)	100%	2011
=1	Norway	100%	2008
=1	Liechtenstein	100%	2008
=1	Andorra	100%	2008
=1	Georgia	100%	2004
=1	Greenland	100%	2001
=1	Luxembourg	100%	2000
=1	Finland	100%	2000
=9	Estonia	99.8%	2003
=9	Latvia	99.8%	2003
=11	Samoa	99.7%	2003
=11	Poland	99.7%	2003
=11	Barbados	99.7%	2002
=14	Slovenia	99.6%	2008
=14	Slovakia	99.6%	2004
=14	Lithuania	99.6%	2003
=14	Ukraine	99.6%	2003
=18	Russia	99.5%	2003
=18	Belarus	99.5%	2003
=20	Hungary	99.3%	2003
=20	Kazakhstan	99.3%	1999
22	Tajikistan	99.1%	2003
=23	North Korea	99%	2011
=23	Bermuda	99%	2005
=23	Canada	99%	2003
=23	Netherlands	99%	2003
=23	Monaco	99%	2003
=23	France	99%	2003
=23	Ireland	99%	2003
=23	Australia	99%	2003
=23	Denmark	99%	2003
=23	Uzbekistan	99%	2003
=23	United Kingdom	99%	2003
=23	New Zealand	99%	2003
=23	Czech Republic	99%	2003
=23	Mongolia	99%	2003
=23	United States	99%	2003
=23	Sweden	99%	2003
=23	Belgium	99%	2003
=23	Switzerland	99%	2003
=23	Iceland	99%	2003
=23	Germany	99%	2003
=23	Japan	99%	2002
=23	Tonga	99%	1999
=23	Guam	99%	1990
=23	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	99%	1982
	Group of 7 countries (G7) average (profile)	98.88%	2003
47	Moldova	98.6%	2005
48	Guyana	98.5%	2003
49	Uruguay	98.4%	2003
=50	Italy	98.3%	2003
=50	Turkmenistan	98.3%	1999
=52	Azerbaijan	98.2%	2003
=52	Bulgaria	98.2%	2003
	High income OECD countries average (profile)	98.16%	2003
	European Union average (profile)	98.15%	2003
=54	Martinique	98.1%	2003
=54	Kyrgyzstan	98.1%	1999
=56	Trinidad and Tobago	98%	2003
=56	Armenia	98%	2003
=56	Saint Kitts and Nevis	98%	1980
=56	French Polynesia	98%	1977
=56	Cayman Islands	98%	1970
=56	Turks and Caicos Islands	98%	1970
=56	Grenada	98%	1970
63	Croatia	97.8%	2003
64	Romania	97.7%	2003
65	Spain	97.2%	2003
=66	Argentina	97.1%	2003
=66	Aruba	97.1%	2000
=68	South Korea	97%	2003
=68	American Samoa	97%	1980
=68	Montserrat	97%	1970
71	Cuba	96.9%	2003
	NATO countries average (profile)	96.83%	2003
72	Netherlands Antilles	96.8%	2003
=73	Greece	96.5%	2003
=73	The Bahamas	96.5%	2003
75	Cyprus	96.3%	2003
=76	Costa Rica	96.1%	2003
=76	Chile	96.1%	2003
=78	Northern Mariana Islands	96%	1980
=78	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	96%	1970
80	Israel	95.9%	2004
81	Philippines	95.8%	2003
82	New Caledonia	95.5%	1996
=83	San Marino	95%	2011
=83	Anguilla	95%	1984
85	Maldives	94.7%	2006
86	Thailand	94.6%	2003
87	Lesotho	94.5%	2003
=88	Puerto Rico	94.4%	2002
=88	Bosnia and Herzegovina	94.4%	2000
=90	Serbia and Montenegro	94.1%	2003
=90	Belize	94.1%	2003
92	Dominica	94%	2003
93	Malta	93.9%	2005
	Non-religious countries average (profile)	93.86%	2003
94	Marshall Islands	93.7%	1999
95	Venezuela	93.1%	2003
96	Paraguay	93%	2003
=97	Vietnam	92.3%	2003
=97	Seychelles	92.3%	2003
99	Macau	92%	2003
=100	Panama	91.9%	2003
=100	Fiji	91.9%	2003
102	Jamaica	91.6%	2003
103	Portugal	91.3%	2003
=104	Kuwait	91%	2005
=104	Ecuador	91%	2003
106	Reunion	90.8%	2003
107	Colombia	90.7%	2005
108	Saint Lucia	90.6%	2001
109	Hong Kong	90.5%	2003
=110	Sri Lanka	90%	2003
=110	Palau	90%	1980
112	Singapore	89.7%	2003
113	Peru	89.4%	2007
114	Brazil	88.8%	2004
	Emerging markets average (profile)	88.72%	2003
115	Qatar	88.6%	2004
116	Brunei	88.5%	2003
=117	West Bank	88%	2004
=117	Gaza Strip	88%	2004
=117	Federated States of Micronesia	88%	1980
120	China	87.6%	2007
	Former Spanish colonies average (profile)	87.46%	2003
=121	Suriname	87.2%	2004
=121	Zimbabwe	87.2%	2003
123	Indonesia	86.8%	2004
124	Burma	86.4%	2006
125	South Africa	85.7%	2003
126	Malaysia	85.4%	2003
127	Mexico	85.3%	2005
128	Bahrain	85%	2003
129	Dominican Republic	84.8%	2003
130	Jordan	84.7%	2003
131	Namibia	83.7%	2003
132	Mauritius	82.7%	2003
133	Lebanon	82.2%	2003
134	Botswana	81.8%	2003
135	United Arab Emirates	81.7%	2003
136	Bolivia	81.6%	2003
137	Swaziland	80.8%	2003
138	Kenya	79.7%	2003
=139	El Salvador	79.6%	2007
=139	Turkey	79.6%	2004
141	Albania	79.5%	2003
142	Taiwan	79%	1980
=143	Congo, Republic of the	78.4%	2003
=143	Equatorial Guinea	78.4%	2003
145	Sao Tome and Principe	77.9%	2001
	Former British colonies average (profile)	76.65%	2003
146	Honduras	76.3%	2003
147	Zambia	74.8%	2003
148	Syria	73.6%	2004
149	Oman	73.5%	2003
150	Cameroon	73.4%	2003
151	Iran	73%	2003
152	Libya	72%	2003
153	Saudi Arabia	70.8%	2003
154	Tanzania	70.7%	2003
	OPEC countries average (profile)	70.33%	2003
155	Cape Verde	69.2%	2003
156	Nicaragua	67.8%	2003
	Middle Eastern and North Africa average (profile)	67.41%	2003
157	Ghana	67.1%	2003
158	Tunisia	65.3%	2004
159	Rwanda	64.7%	2003
160	Cambodia	64.1%	2004
161	Guatemala	63.3%	2003
162	Laos	63%	2005
163	Madagascar	62.5%	2003
164	Algeria	61%	2003
	Muslim countries average (profile)	60.7%	2003
165	Nigeria	60.6%	2003
166	Uganda	60.4%	2003
167	Egypt	59.4%	2005
168	Papua New Guinea	59.3%	2003
169	Djibouti	58.4%	2003
	Sub-Saharan Africa average (profile)	55.87%	2003
170	Democratic Republic of the Congo	55.1%	2003
171	Angola	54.2%	2001
172	Gabon	53.3%	1995
173	Haiti	51.2%	2003
174	Sudan	50.5%	2003
175	Wallis and Futuna	50%	1969
176	Malawi	49.8%	2003
177	Comoros	49.3%	2003
178	India	48.3%	2003
179	Eritrea	47.6%	2003
	Former French colonies average (profile)	47.6%	2003
180	Togo	46.9%	2003
181	Burundi	45.2%	2003
182	Cote d'Ivoire	43.6%	2003
	failed states average (profile)	42.92%	2003
183	Liberia	41.6%	2003
184	Central African Republic	39.9%	2003
=185	Morocco	39.6%	2004
=185	Mali	39.6%	2003
187	Chad	39.3%	2003
	South Asia average (profile)	36.17%	2003
188	Pakistan	36%	2005
189	Ethiopia	35.1%	2003
190	Bhutan	34%	2003
191	The Gambia	32.8%	2003
192	Mozambique	32.7%	2003
193	Mauritania	31.9%	2003
194	Bangladesh	31.8%	2003
195	Senegal	30.7%	2003
196	Yemen	30%	2003
197	Nepal	27.6%	2003
198	Guinea-Bissau	27.4%	2003
199	Somalia	25.8%	2001
=200	Sierra Leone	24.4%	2004
=200	Iraq	24.4%	2003
202	Benin	23.3%	2002
203	Guinea	18.1%	2003
204	Burkina Faso	15.2%	2003
205	Niger	15.1%	2005
206	Afghanistan	12.6%	2000

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