Adult illiterate population, 15+ years, male (number) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
59
Highest
62.52 million
India
Lowest
2
Uzbekistan
Median
361,507
Years covered
36
1989–2024
Data points
6,933
What the numbers show
Adult illiterate population, 15+ years, male (number) is currently reported for 59 countries. The highest value is 62.52 million in India; the lowest is 2 in Uzbekistan.
The median across all reporting countries is 361,507, and the mean is 2.50 million.
Over the past decade 20 countries rose and 38 fell. The largest increase was in Jordan (up 297.9%), and the largest decrease in Uzbekistan (down 99.7%).
Adult illiterate population, 15+ years, male: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 62.52 million | 2023 | down 31.2% | falling |
| 2 | Pakistan | 22.14 million | 2019 | up 19.3% | rising |
| 3 | Bangladesh | 10.74 million | 2022 | down 44.6% | falling |
| 4 | Egypt | 7.97 million | 2017 | up 16.1% | flat |
| 5 | Brazil | 5.52 million | 2018 | down 15.7% | falling |
| 6 | Burkina Faso | 3.62 million | 2019 | up 47.0% | rising |
| 7 | Iran | 3.11 million | 2016 | down 11.2% | falling |
| 8 | Morocco | 2.99 million | 2014 | down 12.8% | falling |
| 9 | Mali | 2.85 million | 2018 | up 18.0% | rising |
| 10 | Indonesia | 2.58 million | 2020 | down 43.9% | falling |
| 11 | Uganda | 2.19 million | 2014 | up 66.8% | rising |
| 12 | Mozambique | 2.14 million | 2020 | up 17.3% | rising |
| 13 | South Africa | 1.93 million | 2024 | up 119.5% | falling |
| 14 | Mexico | 1.78 million | 2020 | down 16.1% | falling |
| 15 | Guinea | 1.57 million | 2018 | down 8.1% | rising |
| 16 | Senegal | 1.54 million | 2017 | up 2.1% | rising |
| 17 | Thailand | 1.29 million | 2018 | up 41.2% | rising |
| 18 | Iraq | 1.01 million | 2017 | down 24.2% | flat |
| 19 | Vietnam | 1.00 million | 2022 | down 22.2% | falling |
| 20 | Colombia | 860,608 | 2020 | down 17.2% | falling |
| 21 | Guatemala | 780,213 | 2018 | up 14.1% | falling |
| 22 | Burundi | 688,499 | 2017 | down 33.8% | rising |
| 23 | Philippines | 606,738 | 2020 | down 32.0% | falling |
| 24 | Sri Lanka | 552,974 | 2024 | up 7.5% | flat |
| 25 | Tunisia | 530,562 | 2019 | down 0.5% | falling |
| 26 | Togo | 494,447 | 2019 | down 8.9% | rising |
| 27 | Cambodia | 490,996 | 2019 | down 30.8% | flat |
| 28 | Malaysia | 444,092 | 2022 | down 8.1% | falling |
| 29 | Honduras | 388,650 | 2019 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 30 | Peru | 361,507 | 2020 | up 13.6% | falling |
| 31 | Venezuela | 321,221 | 2016 | down 25.3% | falling |
| 32 | Chile | 253,247 | 2017 | up 24.1% | flat |
| 33 | Dominican Republic | 252,186 | 2024 | down 15.4% | falling |
| 34 | Turkey | 236,887 | 2021 | down 58.1% | falling |
| 35 | Saudi Arabia | 230,859 | 2024 | down 50.1% | falling |
| 36 | Laos | 225,730 | 2015 | down 24.9% | falling |
| 37 | Ecuador | 202,597 | 2022 | down 42.4% | falling |
| 38 | El Salvador | 183,689 | 2024 | down 13.2% | falling |
| 39 | Jordan | 149,458 | 2024 | up 297.9% | rising |
| 40 | East Timor | 119,352 | 2022 | up 3.2% | falling |
| 41 | Paraguay | 117,604 | 2020 | up 18.3% | rising |
| 42 | Bolivia | 95,740 | 2023 | down 3.5% | falling |
| 43 | Kuwait | 66,042 | 2020 | up 14.5% | falling |
| 44 | Panama | 58,832 | 2019 | down 12.1% | falling |
| 45 | United Arab Emirates | 57,388 | 2024 | down 38.0% | volatile |
| 46 | Spain | 36,629 | 2021 | down 87.1% | falling |
| 47 | Oman | 33,382 | 2022 | down 71.9% | volatile |
| 48 | Mauritius | 22,780 | 2016 | down 42.4% | falling |
| 49 | Uruguay | 19,401 | 2022 | down 19.7% | falling |
| 50 | Singapore | 17,288 | 2021 | down 25.8% | falling |
| 51 | Palestine | 16,719 | 2022 | down 28.4% | falling |
| 52 | Qatar | 14,542 | 2024 | down 50.2% | falling |
| 53 | Bahrain | 11,071 | 2024 | — | volatile |
| 54 | Serbia | 10,910 | 2022 | down 50.4% | volatile |
| 55 | Azerbaijan | 6,100 | 2023 | up 28.7% | rising |
| 56 | Maldives | 5,528 | 2016 | up 209.3% | rising |
| 57 | Georgia | 3,462 | 2024 | down 25.5% | rising |
| 58 | Armenia | 1,620 | 2020 | down 20.1% | falling |
| 59 | Uzbekistan | 2 | 2022 | down 99.7% | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- SDG: World 272.88 million
- UIS: World 272.88 million
- MDG: World 272.88 million
- WB: World 272.88 million
- UNICEF: World 272.64 million
- MDG: Developing Regions 264.29 million
- UNICEF: All Unicef Countries 264.25 million
- WB: Ida & Ibrd Total 263.69 million
- WB: Low & Middle Income (july 2025) 263.05 million
- WB: Middle Income (july 2025) 200.33 million
- ESCAP: Wb Lower Middle Income Economies (wb_lower_mid) (unsdcode:98438) 173.91 million
- WB: Lower Middle Income (july 2025) 171.78 million
- WB: Early-demographic Dividend 165.98 million
- GPE: Overall Fy24, All 90 Countries, December 2024 152.36 million
- ESCAP: All Countries (unsdcode:98400) 145.27 million
- AIMS: Asia and the Pacific 145.01 million
- WB: Global Partnership for Education (july 2019) 138.57 million
- WB: Ida Total 138.44 million
- WB: Ibrd Only 125.25 million
- ESCAP: South and South-west Asia (sswa) (unsdcode:98420) 124.95 million
- SDG: Central and Southern Asia 124.77 million
- AIMS: South and West Asia 124.75 million
- MDG: Southern Asia 124.75 million
- SDG: Southern Asia 124.75 million
- UIS: South and West Asia 124.75 million
- ESCAP: Saarc (saarc) (unsdcode:98428) 122.43 million
- UNICEF: South Asia 122.43 million
- GPE: Fragile or Conflict-affected Countries (fcac) Fy24, December 2024 109.77 million
- ECA: African Union Commission (unsdcode:98106) 106.03 million
- ECA: All Countries (unsdcode:98100) 106.03 million
- ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) 106.03 million
- UNICEF: Africa 106.03 million
- WB: South Asia 95.67 million
- WB: South Asia (ida & Ibrd) 95.67 million
- MDG: Sub-saharan Africa 93.49 million
- UNICEF: Sub-saharan Africa 93.49 million
- WB: Sub-saharan Africa 93.49 million
- WB: Sub-saharan Africa (ida & Ibrd) 93.49 million
- WB: Sub-saharan Africa (excluding High Income) 93.49 million
- ECA: Sub-saharan Africa (unsdcode:98126) 93.11 million
About this data
February 2026 Data Release