Adult illiterate population, 15+ years, both sexes (number) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
59
Highest
190.71 million
India
Lowest
4
Uzbekistan
Median
1.11 million
Years covered
36
1989–2024
Data points
6,930
What the numbers show
Adult illiterate population, 15+ years, both sexes (number) is currently reported for 59 countries. The highest value is 190.71 million in India; the lowest is 4 in Uzbekistan.
The median across all reporting countries is 1.11 million, and the mean is 6.95 million.
Over the past decade 19 countries rose and 39 fell. The largest increase was in Jordan (up 391.8%), and the largest decrease in Uzbekistan (down 99.6%).
Adult illiterate population, 15+ years, both sexes: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 190.71 million | 2023 | down 26.1% | falling |
| 2 | Pakistan | 59.25 million | 2019 | up 13.5% | rising |
| 3 | Bangladesh | 25.25 million | 2022 | down 41.8% | falling |
| 4 | Egypt | 19.60 million | 2017 | up 8.2% | flat |
| 5 | Brazil | 11.07 million | 2018 | down 15.3% | falling |
| 6 | Iran | 9.11 million | 2016 | down 4.3% | falling |
| 7 | Morocco | 8.66 million | 2014 | down 9.6% | falling |
| 8 | Indonesia | 8.11 million | 2020 | down 40.1% | falling |
| 9 | Burkina Faso | 8.02 million | 2019 | up 40.3% | rising |
| 10 | Mali | 6.71 million | 2018 | up 24.2% | rising |
| 11 | Mozambique | 6.68 million | 2020 | up 12.9% | rising |
| 12 | Uganda | 5.79 million | 2014 | up 45.9% | rising |
| 13 | Mexico | 4.44 million | 2020 | down 18.3% | falling |
| 14 | Guinea | 4.27 million | 2018 | down 1.4% | rising |
| 15 | Senegal | 4.24 million | 2017 | up 13.2% | rising |
| 16 | South Africa | 4.17 million | 2024 | up 80.1% | falling |
| 17 | Thailand | 3.48 million | 2018 | up 84.5% | rising |
| 18 | Iraq | 3.40 million | 2017 | down 22.7% | flat |
| 19 | Vietnam | 2.92 million | 2022 | down 30.1% | falling |
| 20 | Guatemala | 2.07 million | 2018 | up 4.4% | flat |
| 21 | Burundi | 1.86 million | 2017 | down 21.3% | rising |
| 22 | Turkey | 1.77 million | 2021 | down 45.2% | falling |
| 23 | Tunisia | 1.72 million | 2019 | down 2.2% | falling |
| 24 | Colombia | 1.69 million | 2020 | down 20.3% | falling |
| 25 | Togo | 1.60 million | 2019 | down 0.7% | rising |
| 26 | Cambodia | 1.38 million | 2019 | down 37.9% | falling |
| 27 | Peru | 1.34 million | 2020 | up 2.9% | falling |
| 28 | Sri Lanka | 1.30 million | 2024 | up 4.2% | falling |
| 29 | Philippines | 1.17 million | 2020 | down 34.1% | falling |
| 30 | Malaysia | 1.11 million | 2022 | down 19.9% | falling |
| 31 | Honduras | 761,211 | 2019 | down 2.1% | flat |
| 32 | Laos | 688,200 | 2015 | down 25.9% | falling |
| 33 | Venezuela | 635,106 | 2016 | down 30.6% | falling |
| 34 | Saudi Arabia | 539,462 | 2024 | down 49.6% | falling |
| 35 | Chile | 529,430 | 2017 | up 19.2% | flat |
| 36 | Ecuador | 487,709 | 2022 | down 41.9% | falling |
| 37 | El Salvador | 483,465 | 2024 | down 14.5% | falling |
| 38 | Dominican Republic | 476,215 | 2024 | down 16.9% | falling |
| 39 | Jordan | 453,607 | 2024 | up 391.8% | rising |
| 40 | Bolivia | 377,930 | 2023 | down 0.2% | falling |
| 41 | East Timor | 270,094 | 2022 | up 3.9% | flat |
| 42 | Paraguay | 252,998 | 2020 | up 7.8% | rising |
| 43 | Panama | 130,592 | 2019 | down 13.0% | falling |
| 44 | Kuwait | 126,488 | 2020 | up 1.8% | falling |
| 45 | Spain | 121,292 | 2021 | down 86.2% | falling |
| 46 | United Arab Emirates | 102,819 | 2024 | down 37.1% | falling |
| 47 | Oman | 97,887 | 2022 | down 62.6% | volatile |
| 48 | Singapore | 79,258 | 2021 | down 30.0% | falling |
| 49 | Palestine | 70,237 | 2022 | down 34.6% | falling |
| 50 | Mauritius | 69,312 | 2016 | down 35.8% | falling |
| 51 | Serbia | 38,198 | 2022 | down 69.8% | volatile |
| 52 | Uruguay | 32,971 | 2022 | down 23.3% | falling |
| 53 | Bahrain | 28,007 | 2024 | — | falling |
| 54 | Qatar | 17,268 | 2024 | down 55.1% | falling |
| 55 | Azerbaijan | 17,200 | 2023 | up 12.3% | falling |
| 56 | Georgia | 9,650 | 2024 | down 24.6% | flat |
| 57 | Maldives | 7,992 | 2016 | up 137.4% | rising |
| 58 | Armenia | 4,891 | 2020 | down 19.7% | falling |
| 59 | Uzbekistan | 4 | 2022 | down 99.6% | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- SDG: World 739.14 million
- UIS: World 739.14 million
- MDG: World 739.14 million
- WB: World 739.14 million
- UNICEF: World 738.50 million
- MDG: Developing Regions 717.72 million
- UNICEF: All Unicef Countries 717.60 million
- WB: Ida & Ibrd Total 716.14 million
- WB: Low & Middle Income (july 2025) 714.90 million
- WB: Middle Income (july 2025) 555.38 million
- ESCAP: Wb Lower Middle Income Economies (wb_lower_mid) (unsdcode:98438) 475.23 million
- WB: Lower Middle Income (july 2025) 468.37 million
- WB: Early-demographic Dividend 453.29 million
- ESCAP: All Countries (unsdcode:98400) 414.26 million
- AIMS: Asia and the Pacific 412.56 million
- GPE: Overall Fy24, All 90 Countries, December 2024 395.41 million
- WB: Ibrd Only 359.23 million
- WB: Global Partnership for Education (july 2019) 357.40 million
- WB: Ida Total 356.91 million
- ESCAP: South and South-west Asia (sswa) (unsdcode:98420) 348.60 million
- SDG: Central and Southern Asia 347.08 million
- AIMS: South and West Asia 347.01 million
- MDG: Southern Asia 347.01 million
- SDG: Southern Asia 347.01 million
- UIS: South and West Asia 347.01 million
- ESCAP: Saarc (saarc) (unsdcode:98428) 339.90 million
- UNICEF: South Asia 339.90 million
- GPE: Fragile or Conflict-affected Countries (fcac) Fy24, December 2024 284.31 million
- ECA: African Union Commission (unsdcode:98106) 270.64 million
- ECA: All Countries (unsdcode:98100) 270.64 million
- ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) 270.64 million
- UNICEF: Africa 270.64 million
- WB: South Asia 266.85 million
- WB: South Asia (ida & Ibrd) 266.85 million
- MDG: Sub-saharan Africa 236.04 million
- UNICEF: Sub-saharan Africa 236.04 million
- WB: Sub-saharan Africa 236.04 million
- WB: Sub-saharan Africa (ida & Ibrd) 236.04 million
- WB: Sub-saharan Africa (excluding High Income) 236.03 million
- ECA: Sub-saharan Africa (unsdcode:98126) 235.12 million
About this data
February 2026 Data Release