Data / Rankings / Adult literacy rate / Countries

Countries by adult literacy rate, 2019

Armenia had the highest adult literacy rate of 56 countries in 2019, at 100%. Burkina Faso had the lowest, at 29.7%. The median was 92.8% and the figure for the World was 86.8%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Highest100Armenia
Lowest29.7Burkina Faso
Median92.856 countries
World86.8History

All countries, 2019

Armenia: 100 %Armenia100Uzbekistan: 100 %Uzbekistan100Georgia: 99.9 %Georgia99.9Belarus: 99.9 %Belarus99.9Azerbaijan: 99.8 %Azerbaijan99.8Serbia: 99.5 %Serbia99.5Italy: 99.3 %Italy99.3Uruguay: 98.8 %Uruguay98.8Mongolia: 98.5 %Mongolia98.5Maldives: 98.2 %Maldives98.2Marshall Islands: 98.2 %Marshall Islands98.2Samoa: 98 %Samoa98United Arab Emirates: 97.8 %United Arab Emirates97.8Cuba: 97.7 %Cuba97.7Singapore: 97.5 %Singapore97.5Palestine: 97.4 %Palestine97.4Türkiye: 96.7 %Türkiye96.7Philippines: 96.3 %Philippines96.3Vietnam: 95.8 %Vietnam95.8Panama: 95.7 %Panama95.7Mexico: 95.4 %Mexico95.4Colombia: 95.3 %Colombia95.3South Africa: 95 %South Africa95Malaysia: 95 %Malaysia95Brazil: 93.9 %Brazil93.9Dominican Republic: 93.7 %Dominican Republic93.7Zimbabwe: 93.2 %Zimbabwe93.2Paraguay: 93.2 %Paraguay93.2Vanuatu: 92.5 %Vanuatu92.5Lesotho: 92.4 %Lesotho92.4Sri Lanka: 92.3 %Sri Lanka92.3Lebanon: 92 %Lebanon92Thailand: 91.3 %Thailand91.3Tonga: 91.1 %Tonga91.1El Salvador: 89.1 %El Salvador89.1Myanmar: 89.1 %Myanmar89.1Honduras: 88.5 %Honduras88.5Cambodia: 87.7 %Cambodia87.7São Tomé and Príncipe: 87.4 %São Tomé and Príncipe87.4Iran: 87.4 %Iran87.4Tunisia: 80.6 %Tunisia80.6India: 74.9 %India74.9Bangladesh: 74.7 %Bangladesh74.7Nepal: 68.7 %Nepal68.7Togo: 66.5 %Togo66.5Somalia: 63.7 %Somalia63.7Pakistan: 58 %Pakistan58Côte d’Ivoire: 57 %Côte d’Ivoire57Ethiopia: 55 %Ethiopia55Guinea-Bissau: 54.9 %Guinea-Bissau54.9Benin: 49 %Benin49Senegal: 46.8 %Senegal46.8Sierra Leone: 43.6 %Sierra Leone43.6Central African Republic: 42.4 %Central African Republic42.4Chad: 30.6 %Chad30.6Burkina Faso: 29.7 %Burkina Faso29.7
%. Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS) via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCountries2019 (%)Change on 2018
1Armenia1000 pts
1Uzbekistan1000 pts
3Georgia99.9+0.2 pts
4Belarus99.9n/a
5Azerbaijan99.8n/a
6Serbia99.5n/a
7Italy99.3n/a
8Uruguay98.8+0.1 pts
9Mongolia98.5+1.6 pts
10Maldives98.2n/a
11Marshall Islands98.2n/a
12Samoa98n/a
13United Arab Emirates97.8n/a
14Cuba97.7n/a
15Singapore97.5+0.1 pts
16Palestine97.4+0.2 pts
17Türkiye96.7n/a
18Philippines96.3n/a
19Vietnam95.8n/a
20Panama95.7+0.3 pts
21Mexico95.40 pts
22Colombia95.3+0.2 pts
23South Africa95n/a
24Malaysia95+0.1 pts
25Brazil93.9+0.7 pts
26Dominican Republic93.7+0.2 pts
27Zimbabwe93.2n/a
28Paraguay93.2-0.8 pts
29Vanuatu92.5n/a
30Lesotho92.4+6.2 pts
31Sri Lanka92.3+0.5 pts
32Lebanon92-0.7 pts
33Thailand91.3-2.5 pts
34Tonga91.1n/a
35El Salvador89.1+0.1 pts
36Myanmar89.1-6.7 pts
37Honduras88.5+1.3 pts
38Cambodia87.7n/a
39São Tomé and Príncipe87.4n/a
40Iran87.4+0.5 pts
41Tunisia80.6+1.1 pts
42India74.9+1.2 pts
43Bangladesh74.7+0.8 pts
44Nepal68.7n/a
45Togo66.5n/a
46Somalia63.7n/a
47Pakistan58+1 pts
48Côte d’Ivoire57n/a
49Ethiopia55n/a
50Guinea-Bissau54.9n/a
51Benin49n/a
52Senegal46.8+0.2 pts
53Sierra Leone43.6-5.2 pts
54Central African Republic42.4n/a
55Chad30.6n/a
56Burkina Faso29.7-9.7 pts

Other periods

About this ranking

People aged 15 and over who can both read and write, with understanding, a short simple statement about their everyday life, as a percentage of the population 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. 114 countries with data in other periods have no value for 2019 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 total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.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 total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS) (Countries by adult literacy rate, 2019) [Data set]. World Bank, World Development Indicators. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS

MLA 9

Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS), Countries by adult literacy rate, 2019. UNESCO Institute for Statistics, 8 Oct. 2026, https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. World Bank, World Development Indicators, https://data.worldbank.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate/countries. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 2026. Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Countries by adult literacy rate, 2019. Dataset. Distributed by World Bank, World Development Indicators. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate/countries.

Harvard

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS), Countries by adult literacy rate, 2019 [Dataset]. Via World Bank, World Development Indicators. Available at: https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate/countries (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{unesco_countries_by_adult_literacy_2019,
  author = {{UNESCO Institute for Statistics}},
  title = {{Literacy rate, adult total, \% of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS): Countries by adult literacy rate, 2019}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {World Bank, World Development Indicators},
  url = {https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.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/countries. Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult total, \% of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.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 total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS): Countries by adult literacy rate, 2019
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/08
PB  - World Bank, World Development Indicators
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/adult-literacy-rate/countries
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/countries.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). Literacy rate, adult total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved through World Bank World Development Indicators (data.worldbank.org). https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.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?

Armenia, with 100% in 2019, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.

Which country has the lowest adult literacy rate?

Burkina Faso, with 29.7% in 2019.

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 total, % of people ages 15 and above (SE.ADT.LITR.ZS). Retrieved 2026-10-12. 114 countries have no value for 2019 and are not ranked.

Adult literacy rate: other rankings

Countries: more rankings