Data / Rankings / Adult literacy rate, men / Countries

Countries by adult literacy rate, men

Latvia had the highest adult literacy rate, men of 53 countries in 2011, at 99.9%. Mali had the lowest, at 43.5%. The median was 96.6% and the figure for the World was 88.9%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Highest99.9Latvia
Lowest43.5Mali
Median96.653 countries
World88.9History

All countries, 2011

Latvia: 99.9 %Latvia99.9Azerbaijan: 99.9 %Azerbaijan99.9Estonia: 99.9 %Estonia99.9Armenia: 99.8 %Armenia99.8Lithuania: 99.8 %Lithuania99.8Montenegro: 99.4 %Montenegro99.4Tonga: 99.3 %Tonga99.3Cyprus: 99.3 %Cyprus99.3Serbia: 99.3 %Serbia99.3Italy: 99.1 %Italy99.1Romania: 99 %Romania99Samoa: 98.9 %Samoa98.9Bulgaria: 98.8 %Bulgaria98.8Spain: 98.5 %Spain98.5Singapore: 98.4 %Singapore98.4Marshall Islands: 98.3 %Marshall Islands98.3Uruguay: 98 %Uruguay98Albania: 98 %Albania98Türkiye: 97.9 %Türkiye97.9Jordan: 97.8 %Jordan97.8Macao: 97.8 %Macao97.8Palestine: 97.7 %Palestine97.7Brunei: 97.4 %Brunei97.4Costa Rica: 97.3 %Costa Rica97.3Chile: 96.9 %Chile96.9Qatar: 96.6 %Qatar96.6Bolivia: 96.6 %Bolivia96.6Portugal: 96.3 %Portugal96.3Indonesia: 95.6 %Indonesia95.6Mexico: 94.8 %Mexico94.8Venezuela: 94.5 %Venezuela94.5South Africa: 94.3 %South Africa94.3Colombia: 93.5 %Colombia93.5Ecuador: 93.1 %Ecuador93.1Mauritius: 91.9 %Mauritius91.9Malta: 91.8 %Malta91.8Brazil: 91.2 %Brazil91.2Dominican Republic: 90 %Dominican Republic90Namibia: 88.6 %Namibia88.6El Salvador: 88.4 %El Salvador88.4Iran: 88.1 %Iran88.1Tunisia: 87.8 %Tunisia87.8Honduras: 85.3 %Honduras85.3India: 78.9 %India78.9Morocco: 76.1 %Morocco76.1Togo: 74.1 %Togo74.1Nepal: 71.7 %Nepal71.7Pakistan: 67 %Pakistan67Senegal: 66 %Senegal66Bangladesh: 62.5 %Bangladesh62.5Benin: 47.2 %Benin47.2Afghanistan: 45.4 %Afghanistan45.4Mali: 43.5 %Mali43.5
%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2011 (%)Change on 2010
1Latvia99.9n/a
2Azerbaijan99.90 pts
2Estonia99.9n/a
4Armenia99.8n/a
5Lithuania99.8n/a
6Montenegro99.4n/a
7Tonga99.3n/a
8Cyprus99.3n/a
9Serbia99.3n/a
10Italy99.1n/a
11Romania99n/a
12Samoa98.9n/a
13Bulgaria98.8n/a
14Spain98.50 pts
15Singapore98.4+0.3 pts
16Marshall Islands98.3n/a
17Uruguay98+0.4 pts
18Albania98n/a
19Türkiye97.9+0.6 pts
20Jordan97.8+2 pts
20Macao97.8n/a
22Palestine97.7+0.2 pts
23Brunei97.4n/a
24Costa Rica97.3n/a
25Chile96.9n/a
26Qatar96.6+0.1 pts
27Bolivia96.6n/a
28Portugal96.3n/a
29Indonesia95.6+0.8 pts
30Mexico94.8+0.4 pts
31Venezuela94.5-1 pts
32South Africa94.3+0.1 pts
33Colombia93.5+0.2 pts
34Ecuador93.1-0.3 pts
35Mauritius91.9n/a
36Malta91.8n/a
37Brazil91.2+1.1 pts
38Dominican Republic90+0.6 pts
39Namibia88.6n/a
40El Salvador88.4+1.3 pts
41Iran88.1-0.8 pts
42Tunisia87.8+0.4 pts
43Honduras85.3+0.5 pts
44India78.9+0.3 pts
45Morocco76.1n/a
46Togo74.1+2.5 pts
47Nepal71.7n/a
48Pakistan67-1.9 pts
49Senegal66n/a
50Bangladesh62.5n/a
51Benin47.2n/a
52Afghanistan45.4n/a
53Mali43.5+0.1 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

Men aged 15 and over who can both read and write, with understanding, a short simple statement about their everyday life, as a percentage of men aged 15 and over. UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

UIS figures from censuses, household surveys and UIS model estimates. Most high-income countries stopped measuring literacy decades ago, so they have no value; a missing value is not a rate of 0 or 100. Countries report in different years, so a ranking for one year covers only some countries.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the countries are compared on one definition. 117 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2011 and are left out rather than filled from another source. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. (2026). Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS) (Countries by adult literacy rate, men, 2011) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS

MLA 9

Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS), Countries by adult literacy rate, men, 2011. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS. World Bank, World Development Indicators, https://data.worldbank.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate-men/countries?period=2011. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2026. Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS). Countries by adult literacy rate, men, 2011. Dataset. Distributed by World Bank, World Development Indicators. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate-men/countries?period=2011.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS), Countries by adult literacy rate, men, 2011 [Dataset]. Via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate-men/countries?period=2011 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_countries_by_adult_literacy_2011,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{Literacy rate, adult male, \% of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS): Countries by adult literacy rate, men, 2011}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {World Bank, World Development Indicators},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org). Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate-men/countries?period=2011. Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult male, \% of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - UNESCO Institute for Statistics
TI  - Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS): Countries by adult literacy rate, men, 2011
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank, World Development Indicators
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate-men/countries?period=2011
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Retrieved through World Bank, World Development Indicators (https://data.worldbank.org).
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate-men/countries?period=2011.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS. Retrieved 2026-10-12. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. UIS does not endorse Invokely or this use of the data.
ER  -
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Countries by adult literacy rate, men using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"literacy_rate_adult_male","level":"country","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=literacy_rate_adult_male&level=country&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which country has the highest adult literacy rate, men?

Latvia, with 99.9% in 2011, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Which country has the lowest adult literacy rate, men?

Mali, with 43.5% in 2011.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Literacy rate, adult male, % of males ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.MA.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 117 countries have no value for 2011 and are not ranked.

Adult literacy rate, men: other rankings

Countries: more rankings