Country Comparison > Literacy

Rank	Country	Literacy (%)
1	Luxembourg	100
2	Finland	100
3	Georgia	100
4	Greenland	100
5	Estonia	99.8
6	Cuba	99.8
7	Poland	99.8
8	Barbados	99.7
9	Latvia	99.7
10	Samoa	99.7
11	Lithuania	99.6
12	Slovakia	99.6
13	Belarus	99.6
14	Kazakhstan	99.5
15	Tajikistan	99.5
16	Russia	99.4
17	Hungary	99.4
18	Armenia	99.4
19	Ukraine	99.4
20	Uzbekistan	99.3
21	Moldova	99.1
22	Monaco	99
23	Netherlands	99
24	New Zealand	99
25	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	99
26	Sweden	99
27	Switzerland	99
28	Australia	99
29	Belgium	99
30	Canada	99
31	Iceland	99
32	Japan	99
33	Denmark	99
34	Ireland	99
35	United States	99
36	United Kingdom	99
37	Czech Republic	99
38	Germany	99
39	Guam	99
40	France	99
41	Tonga	98.9
42	Turkmenistan	98.8
43	Guyana	98.8
44	Azerbaijan	98.8
45	Albania	98.7
46	Kyrgyzstan	98.7
47	Trinidad and Tobago	98.6
48	Italy	98.4
49	Bulgaria	98.2
50	Croatia	98.1
51	Cayman Islands	98
52	Bermuda	98
53	Turks and Caicos Islands	98
54	Uruguay	98
55	French Polynesia	98
56	Spain	97.9
57	Korea, South	97.9
58	Saint Kitts and Nevis	97.8
59	Mongolia	97.8
60	British Virgin Islands	97.8
61	Romania	97.3
62	Aruba	97.3
63	Argentina	97.2
64	Israel	97.1
65	Northern Mariana Islands	97
66	American Samoa	97
67	Saint Helena	97
68	Montserrat	97
69	Netherlands Antilles	96.7
70	Bosnia and Herzegovina	96.7
71	Maldives	96.3
72	New Caledonia	96.2
73	Macedonia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of	96.1
74	Taiwan	96.1
75	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	96
76	Greece	96
77	Grenada	96
78	Chile	95.7
79	Bahamas, The	95.6
80	Anguilla	95
81	Costa Rica	94.9
82	Puerto Rico	94.1
83	Paraguay	94
84	Dominica	94
85	Fiji	93.7
86	Marshall Islands	93.7
87	Hong Kong	93.5
88	Kuwait	93.3
89	Portugal	93.3
90	Venezuela	93
91	Peru	92.9
92	Malta	92.8
93	Brunei	92.7
94	Philippines	92.6
95	Thailand	92.6
96	Singapore	92.5
97	Gaza Strip	92.4
98	West Bank	92.4
99	Palau	92
100	Panama	91.9
101	Seychelles	91.8
102	Macau	91.3
103	Mexico	91
104	Ecuador	91
105	China	90.9
106	Sri Lanka	90.7
107	Zimbabwe	90.7
108	Colombia	90.4
109	Indonesia	90.4
110	Vietnam	90.3
111	Saint Lucia	90.1
112	Jordan	89.9
113	Burma	89.9
114	Suriname	89.6
115	Qatar	89
116	Micronesia, Federated States of	89
117	Malaysia	88.7
118	Brazil	88.6
119	Jamaica	87.9
120	Lebanon	87.4
121	Turkey	87.4
122	Equatorial Guinea	87
123	Dominican Republic	87
124	Bolivia	86.7
125	Bahrain	86.5
126	South Africa	86.4
127	Antigua and Barbuda	85.8
128	Kenya	85.1
129	Namibia	85
130	Sao Tome and Principe	84.9
131	Lesotho	84.8
132	Mauritius	84.4
133	Congo, Republic of the	83.8
134	Libya	82.6
135	Swaziland	81.6
136	Oman	81.4
137	Botswana	81.2
138	Zambia	80.6
139	El Salvador	80.2
140	Honduras	80
141	Syria	79.6
142	Saudi Arabia	78.8
143	United Arab Emirates	77.9
144	Iran	77
145	Belize	76.9
146	Cape Verde	76.6
147	Tunisia	74.3
148	Iraq	74.1
149	Vanuatu	74
150	Cambodia	73.6
151	Egypt	71.4
152	Rwanda	70.4
153	Algeria	69.9
154	Tanzania	69.4
155	Guatemala	69.1
156	Madagascar	68.9
157	Laos	68.7
158	Nigeria	68
159	Cameroon	67.9
160	Djibouti	67.9
161	Nicaragua	67.5
162	Angola	67.4
163	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	67.2
164	Uganda	66.8
165	Gabon	63.2
166	Malawi	62.7
167	Sudan	61.1
168	India	61
169	Togo	60.9
170	Burundi	59.3
171	East Timor	58.6
172	Eritrea	58.6
173	Ghana	57.9
174	Liberia	57.5
175	Papua New Guinea	57.3
176	Comoros	56.5
177	Haiti	52.9
178	Morocco	52.3
179	Mauritania	51.2
180	Yemen	50.2
181	Wallis and Futuna	50
182	Pakistan	49.9
183	Cote d'Ivoire	48.7
184	Central African Republic	48.6
185	Nepal	48.6
186	Bangladesh	47.9
187	Mozambique	47.8
188	Bhutan	47
189	Mali	46.4
190	Ethiopia	42.7
191	Guinea-Bissau	42.4
192	Gambia, The	40.1
193	Senegal	39.3
194	Somalia	37.8
195	Sierra Leone	35.1
196	Benin	34.7
197	Guinea	29.5
198	Niger	28.7
199	Afghanistan	28.1
200	Chad	25.7
201	Burkina Faso	21.8

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 the Factbook. Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world.

Source: CIA World Factbook - Unless otherwise noted, information in this page is accurate as of January 1, 2009