Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male (%) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
88
Highest
100.0%
Tajikistan
Lowest
39.3%
Burkina Faso
Median
94.5%
Years covered
55
1970–2024
Data points
9,602
What the numbers show
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male (%) is currently reported for 88 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Tajikistan; the lowest is 39.3% in Burkina Faso.
The median across all reporting countries is 94.5%, and the mean is 86.5%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 3.
Over the past decade 64 countries rose and 21 fell. The largest increase was in Burundi (up 61.6%), and the largest decrease in Lesotho (down 13.3%).
Literacy rate, population 25-64 years, male: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tajikistan | 100.0% | 2009 | up 0.2% | flat |
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 100.0% | 2022 | unchanged | flat |
| 3 | Spain | 99.9% | 2021 | up 0.8% | flat |
| 4 | Azerbaijan | 99.9% | 2023 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 5 | Georgia | 99.8% | 2024 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 6 | Armenia | 99.7% | 2023 | down 0.2% | flat |
| 7 | Palestine, State of | 99.6% | 2024 | up 0.7% | flat |
| 8 | Serbia | 99.6% | 2022 | up 0.1% | flat |
| 9 | Türkiye | 99.6% | 2021 | up 0.8% | rising |
| 10 | Oman | 99.4% | 2022 | up 10.4% | rising |
| 11 | Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 99.3% | 2024 | up 1.8% | rising |
| 12 | Montenegro | 99.2% | 2018 | down 0.3% | flat |
| 13 | Qatar | 99.2% | 2024 | up 2.6% | rising |
| 14 | China | 99.1% | 2020 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 15 | Singapore | 99.1% | 2020 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 16 | United Arab Emirates | 99.1% | 2024 | up 0.7% | rising |
| 17 | Tonga | 99.0% | 2023 | down 0.4% | falling |
| 18 | Samoa | 99.0% | 2019 | down 0.1% | flat |
| 19 | Macau, China | 98.8% | 2016 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 20 | Uruguay | 98.8% | 2024 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 21 | Bahrain | 98.7% | 2024 | — | rising |
| 22 | Albania | 98.5% | 2023 | down 0.6% | flat |
| 23 | Maldives | 98.4% | 2019 | down 0.3% | rising |
| 24 | Philippines | 98.4% | 2020 | up 1.2% | rising |
| 25 | Saudi Arabia | 98.3% | 2024 | up 1.2% | rising |
| 26 | Indonesia | 97.9% | 2020 | up 2.7% | rising |
| 27 | Mongolia | 97.9% | 2024 | down 0.4% | flat |
| 28 | Chile | 97.9% | 2022 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 29 | Panama | 97.9% | 2024 | up 1.5% | rising |
| 30 | Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of | 97.5% | 2017 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 31 | Peru | 97.5% | 2024 | up 0.4% | rising |
| 32 | Viet Nam | 97.1% | 2022 | up 1.5% | rising |
| 33 | Mexico | 97.0% | 2024 | up 0.6% | rising |
| 34 | Malaysia | 97.0% | 2022 | up 0.8% | rising |
| 35 | Kuwait | 96.9% | 2020 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 36 | Jordan | 96.7% | 2024 | down 1.7% | rising |
| 37 | Paraguay | 96.5% | 2024 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 38 | Mauritius | 96.2% | 2023 | up 4.6% | rising |
| 39 | Colombia | 95.9% | 2024 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 40 | Ecuador | 95.6% | 2024 | down 0.5% | rising |
| 41 | Myanmar | 95.2% | 2020 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 42 | Tunisia | 95.1% | 2023 | up 4.1% | rising |
| 43 | Brazil | 95.1% | 2024 | up 3.6% | rising |
| 44 | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 94.8% | 2023 | up 3.9% | rising |
| 45 | Sri Lanka | 94.2% | 2024 | up 1.0% | flat |
| 46 | Dominican Republic | 93.9% | 2024 | up 3.5% | rising |
| 47 | Cape Verde | 93.5% | 2024 | up 1.2% | rising |
| 48 | El Salvador | 92.6% | 2024 | up 2.6% | rising |
| 49 | Thailand | 92.4% | 2022 | down 4.0% | flat |
| 50 | Sao Tome and Principe | 92.3% | 2019 | down 3.6% | rising |
| 51 | South Africa | 92.1% | 2024 | down 3.4% | rising |
| 52 | Cambodia | 89.0% | 2023 | up 5.1% | rising |
| 53 | Honduras | 88.7% | 2024 | up 2.4% | rising |
| 54 | Namibia | 88.5% | 2023 | down 1.3% | rising |
| 55 | Guatemala | 87.9% | 2024 | up 2.7% | rising |
| 56 | Nicaragua | 86.2% | 2014 | up 12.2% | rising |
| 57 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 85.6% | 2023 | down 4.0% | rising |
| 58 | India | 84.6% | 2024 | up 11.1% | rising |
| 59 | Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 84.3% | 2023 | down 3.4% | flat |
| 60 | Tanzania, United Republic of | 83.8% | 2022 | down 0.4% | rising |
| 61 | Egypt | 83.7% | 2022 | up 5.1% | rising |
| 62 | Lesotho | 83.0% | 2024 | down 13.3% | rising |
| 63 | Zambia | 81.8% | 2024 | down 7.5% | rising |
| 64 | Uganda | 80.9% | 2024 | up 9.2% | rising |
| 65 | Togo | 80.8% | 2022 | up 13.8% | rising |
| 66 | Nepal | 80.7% | 2019 | up 21.3% | rising |
| 67 | Rwanda | 79.5% | 2022 | up 14.4% | rising |
| 68 | Bangladesh | 79.4% | 2022 | up 38.3% | rising |
| 69 | Nigeria | 78.9% | 2024 | up 17.4% | rising |
| 70 | Malawi | 78.2% | 2020 | — | rising |
| 71 | Cameroon | 77.8% | 2018 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 72 | Burundi | 75.2% | 2020 | up 61.6% | rising |
| 73 | Mozambique | 73.5% | 2022 | up 15.7% | rising |
| 74 | Morocco | 73.3% | 2014 | up 15.3% | rising |
| 75 | Ghana | 72.8% | 2021 | down 4.2% | rising |
| 76 | Mauritania | 69.6% | 2020 | up 4.1% | rising |
| 77 | Pakistan | 66.9% | 2021 | up 4.4% | rising |
| 78 | Ethiopia | 65.3% | 2022 | up 18.7% | rising |
| 79 | Côte d'Ivoire | 63.6% | 2022 | up 31.6% | rising |
| 80 | Senegal | 60.2% | 2023 | up 19.4% | rising |
| 81 | Benin | 58.2% | 2022 | up 15.9% | rising |
| 82 | Guinea | 50.9% | 2018 | up 30.2% | rising |
| 83 | Sierra Leone | 48.0% | 2019 | up 13.1% | rising |
| 84 | Afghanistan | 43.2% | 2021 | up 14.2% | rising |
| 85 | Mali | 42.5% | 2024 | up 6.0% | rising |
| 86 | Niger | 42.2% | 2022 | up 19.8% | rising |
| 87 | Chad | 39.6% | 2019 | up 13.4% | rising |
| 88 | Burkina Faso | 39.3% | 2023 | down 3.7% | rising |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- AIMS: Central Asia 99.9%
- ECE: Cis (cwg) (unsdcode:98201) 99.9%
- SDG: Central Asia 99.9%
- ECE: Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (cis) (unsdcode:98202) 99.9%
- ESCAP: North and Central Asia (nca) (unsdcode:98417) 99.9%
- GPE: Europe & Central Asia Wb Fy24, December 2024 99.9%
- ECE: Eurasian Economic Union (eaeu) (unsdcode:98206) 99.9%
- MDG: Caucasus and Central Asia 99.9%
- UIS: Central Asia 99.9%
- UNICEF: Central and Eastern Europe/commonwealth of Independent States 99.8%
- UNICEF: Eastern Europe and Central Asia 99.8%
- WB: Europe & Central Asia (ida & Ibrd) 99.8%
- WB: Europe & Central Asia (excluding High Income) 99.8%
- UIS: Central and Eastern Europe 99.7%
- UNICEF: Europe and Central Asia Programme Countries 99.7%
- WB: Central Europe and the Baltics 99.5%
- MDG: Eastern Asia (excluding China) 99.5%
- UNICEF: Europe and Central Asia 99.5%
- WB: Europe & Central Asia 99.5%
- ECE: All Countries (unsdcode:98200) 99.4%
- ECE: West Balkans (st7) (unsdcode:98205) 99.4%
- SDG: Europe and Northern America 99.4%
- ESCAP: North America (nam) (unsdcode:98425) 99.4%
- SDG: Northern America 99.4%
- UNICEF: North America 99.4%
- WB: North America 99.4%
- UNICEF: Western Balkans 99.3%
- MDG: Eastern Asia 99.3%
- ESCAP: Wb Upper Middle Income Economies (wb_upper_mid) (unsdcode:98437) 99.2%
- SDG: Europe, Northern America, Australia and New Zealand 99.2%
- ESCAP: East and North-east Asia (enea) (unsdcode:98408) 99.1%
- SDG: Eastern Asia 99.1%
- ALECSO: Gulf Countries 98.8%
- ESCWA: Gulf Cooperation Council (gcc) (unsdcode:98502) 98.8%
- UNICEF: Gulf Area 98.8%
- UNICEF: East Asia and the Pacific Programme Countries 98.6%
- WB: East Asia & Pacific (excluding High Income) 98.6%
- AIMS: East Asia 98.6%
- SDG: Eastern and South-eastern Asia 98.6%
- WB: East Asia & Pacific (ida & Ibrd) 98.6%
About this data
February 2026 Data Release