Data / Rankings / Adult literacy rate, women / Countries

Countries by adult literacy rate, women

Estonia had the highest adult literacy rate, women of 53 countries in 2011, at 99.9%. Afghanistan had the lowest, at 17%. The median was 93.7% and the figure for the World was 80.6%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Highest99.9Estonia
Lowest17Afghanistan
Median93.753 countries
World80.6History

All countries, 2011

Estonia: 99.9 %Estonia99.9Latvia: 99.9 %Latvia99.9Lithuania: 99.8 %Lithuania99.8Azerbaijan: 99.7 %Azerbaijan99.7Armenia: 99.7 %Armenia99.7Tonga: 99.4 %Tonga99.4Samoa: 99.1 %Samoa99.1Uruguay: 98.6 %Uruguay98.6Italy: 98.6 %Italy98.6Romania: 98.2 %Romania98.2Marshall Islands: 98.2 %Marshall Islands98.2Cyprus: 98.1 %Cyprus98.1Bulgaria: 98 %Bulgaria98Costa Rica: 97.5 %Costa Rica97.5Montenegro: 97.5 %Montenegro97.5Spain: 97.1 %Spain97.1Serbia: 96.8 %Serbia96.8Chile: 96.5 %Chile96.5Albania: 95.7 %Albania95.7Qatar: 95.6 %Qatar95.6Venezuela: 95 %Venezuela95Malta: 94.8 %Malta94.8Brunei: 94.7 %Brunei94.7Singapore: 94.1 %Singapore94.1Jordan: 93.9 %Jordan93.9Macao: 93.7 %Macao93.7Colombia: 93.7 %Colombia93.7Portugal: 92.9 %Portugal92.9Mexico: 92.3 %Mexico92.3Palestine: 92.3 %Palestine92.3South Africa: 92.1 %South Africa92.1Brazil: 91.6 %Brazil91.6Türkiye: 90.3 %Türkiye90.3Dominican Republic: 90.2 %Dominican Republic90.2Ecuador: 90.2 %Ecuador90.2Indonesia: 90.1 %Indonesia90.1Bolivia: 88.1 %Bolivia88.1Namibia: 87.9 %Namibia87.9Mauritius: 86.7 %Mauritius86.7Honduras: 84.9 %Honduras84.9El Salvador: 83 %El Salvador83Iran: 79 %Iran79Tunisia: 71.7 %Tunisia71.7India: 59.3 %India59.3Morocco: 57.6 %Morocco57.6Bangladesh: 55.1 %Bangladesh55.1Nepal: 48.8 %Nepal48.8Togo: 48 %Togo48Benin: 42.5 %Benin42.5Pakistan: 42 %Pakistan42Senegal: 40.3 %Senegal40.3Mali: 18.9 %Mali18.9Afghanistan: 17 %Afghanistan17
%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Literacy rate, adult female, % of females ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2011 (%)Change on 2010
1Estonia99.9n/a
1Latvia99.9n/a
3Lithuania99.8n/a
4Azerbaijan99.70 pts
5Armenia99.7n/a
6Tonga99.4n/a
7Samoa99.1n/a
8Uruguay98.6+0.1 pts
9Italy98.6n/a
10Romania98.2n/a
11Marshall Islands98.2n/a
12Cyprus98.1n/a
13Bulgaria98n/a
14Costa Rica97.5n/a
14Montenegro97.5n/a
16Spain97.1+0.1 pts
17Serbia96.8n/a
18Chile96.5n/a
19Albania95.7n/a
20Qatar95.6+0.2 pts
21Venezuela95-0.2 pts
22Malta94.8n/a
23Brunei94.7n/a
24Singapore94.1+0.3 pts
25Jordan93.9+4.7 pts
26Macao93.7n/a
27Colombia93.7+0.2 pts
28Portugal92.9n/a
29Mexico92.3+0.5 pts
30Palestine92.3+0.4 pts
31South Africa92.1+0.3 pts
32Brazil91.6+0.9 pts
33Türkiye90.3+2.2 pts
34Dominican Republic90.2+0.5 pts
35Ecuador90.2-0.3 pts
36Indonesia90.1+0.2 pts
37Bolivia88.1n/a
38Namibia87.9n/a
39Mauritius86.7n/a
40Honduras84.9+0.2 pts
41El Salvador83+0.7 pts
42Iran79+0.5 pts
43Tunisia71.7+0.6 pts
44India59.3+1.6 pts
45Morocco57.6n/a
46Bangladesh55.1n/a
47Nepal48.8n/a
48Togo48+2.6 pts
49Benin42.5n/a
50Pakistan42+1 pts
51Senegal40.3n/a
52Mali18.9-1.4 pts
53Afghanistan17n/a

Other periods

About this ranking

Women aged 15 and over who can both read and write, with understanding, a short simple statement about their everyday life, as a percentage of women 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. 118 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 female, % of females ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.FE.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 female, % of females ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS) (Countries by adult literacy rate, women, 2011) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS

MLA 9

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

Chicago (author-date)

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

Harvard

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

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

Which country has the highest adult literacy rate, women?

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

Which country has the lowest adult literacy rate, women?

Afghanistan, with 17% 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 female, % of females ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.FE.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 118 countries have no value for 2011 and are not ranked.

Adult literacy rate, women: other rankings

Countries: more rankings