Literacy rate, women aged 15 and above

percent, 1999–2016

Country	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
Afghanistan													17.61
Albania			98.25	97.74	97.23	96.72	96.21	95.70	95.19	94.68	95.02	95.35	95.69	96.14
Algeria				60.08	61.04	62.00	62.96	63.92	65.73	67.55
Andorra																	100.00	100.00
Angola			54.19	54.13	54.07	54.01	53.95	53.89	53.83	53.77	53.71	53.65	53.59	53.53	53.47	53.41
Antigua and Barbuda			99.42
Argentina			97.19	97.26	97.33	97.39	97.46	97.53	97.59	97.66	97.73	97.80	97.86	97.93	98.00	98.06	98.13
Armenia			99.16	99.21	99.27	99.32	99.37	99.43	99.48	99.53	99.58	99.64	99.69
Aruba		97.07	97.04	97.00	96.97	96.93	96.90	96.86	96.83	96.79	96.75	96.72
Azerbaijan	98.17	98.33	98.48	98.63	98.79	98.94	99.09	99.25	99.40	99.54	99.68	99.69	99.70	99.70	99.72	99.72	99.72	99.72
Bahrain			83.56	84.45	85.35	86.24	87.14	88.03	88.93	89.82	90.72	91.61
Bangladesh			40.82	41.31	41.80	42.28	42.77	43.25	43.74	44.49	45.24	45.99	46.74	51.37	56.00	60.64	65.27	69.90
Belarus	99.42	99.43	99.43	99.44	99.45	99.46	99.46	99.47	99.48	99.49	99.49
Benin				23.30	22.09	20.87	19.66	18.44	19.05	19.66	20.27	20.88	21.49	22.09
Bhutan							38.68	40.01	41.35	42.68	44.02	45.35	46.68	48.02
Bolivia			80.65	81.54	82.43	83.32	84.21	85.10	85.99	86.83	86.82	87.45	88.08	91.87	90.78	89.68	88.58
Bosnia and Herzegovina		94.36	94.58	94.80	95.03	95.25	95.47	95.69	95.92	96.14	96.36	96.58	96.80	95.86	94.91
Botswana					81.81
Brazil		86.50	87.08	87.65	88.23	88.81	89.33	89.86	90.23	90.22	90.41	90.68	91.63	91.62	91.76	92.06
Brunei			90.16	90.61	91.06	91.51	91.96	92.41	92.86	93.31	93.75	94.20	94.65
Bulgaria			97.71	97.73	97.76	97.79	97.82	97.85	97.87	97.90	97.93	97.96	97.98
Burkina Faso					15.19	15.91	16.62	16.29	21.58	22.24	22.91	23.57	24.23	24.89	25.56	26.22
Burundi		52.24	51.10	49.97	48.83	47.70	46.56	45.43	44.29	43.16	45.07	46.99	48.91	50.83	52.75	54.66
Cape Verde														80.50	81.01	81.53	82.04
Cambodia						64.05	65.75	67.45	69.16	70.86	65.93
Cameroon		58.72	59.34	59.95	60.56	61.18	61.79	62.41	63.02	63.61	64.21	64.80
Cayman Islands									99.02
Central African Republic		35.29	34.20	33.10	32.01	30.92	29.82	28.73	27.64	26.54	25.45	24.36
Chad		12.80	14.09	15.39	16.68	17.98	17.61	17.24	16.88	16.51	16.14	15.77	15.41	15.04	14.67	14.30	13.93	13.96
Chile				95.64	96.15	96.66	97.17	97.68	98.19	98.70	98.49	97.51	96.53	96.35	96.16
China		86.53	87.15	87.76	88.38	89.00	89.62	90.24	90.86	91.47	92.09	92.71
Colombia						92.71	92.91	92.22	92.85	93.44	93.42	93.49	93.67	93.94	94.21	94.48	94.42
Comoros		63.46	61.72	59.99	58.25	56.52	54.78	53.05	51.31	49.58	47.84	46.11	44.37	42.64
Congo (Kinshasa)			54.06	52.73	51.41	50.08	48.76	47.43	46.10	49.47	52.83	56.19	59.56	62.92	63.81	64.71	65.60	66.50
Congo (Brazzaville)													72.88
Costa Rica		95.08	95.30	95.52	95.74	95.96	96.18	96.40	96.62	96.84	97.06	97.28	97.50
Ivory Coast		38.61	37.94	37.26	36.58	35.90	35.22	34.54	33.86	33.18	32.50	31.82	31.14	30.46	33.62	36.78
Croatia			97.08	97.24	97.40	97.56	97.72	97.87	98.03	98.19	98.35	98.51	98.67
Cuba				99.79	99.79	99.79	99.79	99.79	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.80	99.80
Cyprus			95.08	95.38	95.69	95.99	96.29	96.60	96.90	97.21	97.51	97.81	98.12
Dominican Republic				87.18	87.40	87.62	87.84	88.06	88.28	88.75	89.22	89.70	90.23	90.22	91.25	92.15	92.32
Ecuador			89.70	88.36	87.02	85.69	84.35	83.02	81.68	81.57	81.45	90.47	90.22	90.95	92.22	93.25	93.26	93.31
Egypt							30.80	57.81	59.24	60.66	62.09	63.52	64.64	65.76	67.18
El Salvador								81.00	79.66	81.36	81.82	82.31	83.02	83.84	84.67	85.44	86.22
Equatorial Guinea		81.62
Eritrea				40.22	42.65	45.08	47.51	49.94	52.37	54.80
Estonia		99.76	99.77	99.79	99.80	99.81	99.83	99.84	99.86	99.87	99.88	99.90	99.91
Ethiopia						22.80	17.98	23.45	28.92
Gabon														79.88
Gambia		25.06	25.72	26.37	27.03	27.68	28.34	28.99	29.65	30.30	30.96	31.61	32.27	32.92	33.58
Georgia				99.55	99.55	99.55	99.54	99.54	99.54	99.53	99.53	99.53	99.52	99.52	99.52	99.51
Ghana		49.79	51.34	52.89	54.44	55.99	57.54	59.09	60.64	62.19	63.74	65.29
Greece			94.24	93.37	92.50	91.63	90.77	91.29	91.81	91.83	91.85	94.04	96.23
Greenland																	100.00
Guatemala				63.34	64.25	65.16	66.07	66.98	67.88	68.79	69.70	70.61	71.52	72.43	72.13	76.37
Guinea					18.24	17.37	16.51	15.65	14.78	13.92	13.06	12.19	14.63	17.08	19.52	21.96
Guinea Bissau		27.49	27.73	27.96	28.20	28.43	28.66	28.90	29.13	29.37	29.60	29.83	30.07	30.30	30.53	30.77
Guyana											87.25	86.81	86.37	85.92	85.48	85.03
Haiti					54.86	51.44	48.02	44.60
Honduras			80.22	80.76	81.30	81.84	82.38	82.91	83.45	83.88	84.30	84.73	84.93	85.05	85.28	87.03	87.89	88.93
India			47.84	48.44	49.03	49.63	50.23	50.82	52.51	54.21	55.90	57.59	59.28
Indonesia						86.80	87.79	88.79	88.94	89.10	89.68	89.87	90.07	91.20	92.32	93.45	93.34	93.59
Iran				70.40	72.53	74.67	76.80	77.24	77.47	77.69	77.88	78.06	78.24	78.42	79.76	79.84
Iraq		64.17	62.15	60.14	58.12	56.10	54.09	52.07	50.05	48.04	46.02	44.00	41.99	39.97	37.96
Italy			98.04	98.10	98.15	98.20	98.26	98.31	98.36	98.42	98.47	98.53	98.58
Jamaica	85.87
Jordan					84.71	85.86	87.01	87.95	88.90	89.00	89.11	89.21	93.93	97.37
Kazakhstan	99.29	99.33	99.37	99.41	99.45	99.49	99.53	99.57	99.61	99.64	99.68	99.74
Kenya		77.89	76.32	74.74	73.17	71.59	70.01	68.44	66.86	67.88	68.90	69.92	70.94	71.97	72.99	74.01
North Korea										100.00
Kuwait							91.04	90.83	91.50	91.78	92.23	92.68	93.82	94.97	94.30	94.39	94.47
Kyrgyzstan	98.13	98.22	98.30	98.39	98.47	98.56	98.64	98.73	98.81	98.90	98.98
Laos		58.46	60.90	61.48	62.06	62.65	63.23	60.98	58.73	56.48	54.22	51.97	49.72
Latvia		99.71	99.73	99.75	99.76	99.78	99.80	99.82	99.84	99.85	99.87	99.89	99.91
Lebanon									85.97	87.03	88.09
Lesotho		92.05	91.26	90.47	89.69	88.90	88.11	87.32	86.54	85.75	84.96	84.96	84.95	84.95	84.94	84.93
Liberia									27.03
Lithuania			99.65	99.67	99.69	99.70	99.72	99.74	99.76	99.78	99.80	99.81	99.83
Macau			87.77	88.36	88.95	89.54	90.13	90.72	91.33	91.93	92.53	93.13	93.73	93.99	94.25	94.51	94.77	95.03
Macedonia (F.Y.R.O.M.)				94.06
Madagascar		65.28	64.87	64.47	64.07	63.66	63.26	62.85	62.45	62.05	61.64	63.86	66.07	68.28
Malawi												51.25	52.22	53.19	54.16	55.13	55.20
Malaysia		85.35	85.89	86.43	86.97	87.51	88.05	88.59	89.13	89.67	90.21	90.75
Maldives								98.43	98.46	98.50	98.53	98.56	98.59	98.63	98.66	98.69
Mali					15.90	16.66	17.43	18.19	18.72	19.24	19.76	20.29	24.64	24.03	23.42	22.81	22.20
Malta							93.50	93.72	93.93	94.15	94.36	94.58	94.79
Marshall Islands													98.20
Mauritania		43.42	42.26	41.11	39.96	38.81	37.65	36.50	35.35
Mauritius		80.50	81.06	81.62	82.18	82.74	83.30	83.86	84.42	84.98	85.54	86.10	86.66	88.98	89.05	90.28	90.65
Mexico		88.68	88.71	88.73	89.18	89.63	90.21	89.83	91.36	91.45	92.12	91.85	92.34	93.18	92.90	93.59	93.49
Moldova		95.49	95.78	96.06	96.35	96.64	96.92	97.21	97.49	97.78	98.07	98.35	98.64	98.92
Mongolia		97.53	97.61	97.69	97.77	97.85	97.93	98.01	98.09	98.18	98.26	98.34
Montenegro					96.32	96.47	96.61	96.76	96.91	97.06	97.21	97.35	97.50
Morocco						39.62	40.36	41.10	41.85	42.59	43.92	50.78	57.64	59.13
Mozambique					33.19	33.74	34.28	34.82	35.37	35.91	36.45
Burma (Myanmar)		86.42	85.50	84.59	83.68	82.77	81.86	80.95	80.04	79.13	78.22	77.31	76.40	75.49	74.58	73.67	72.76	71.85
Namibia			83.54	82.68	81.81	80.95	80.08	79.22	78.35	80.75	83.15	85.55	87.95
Nepal			34.89	36.28	37.68	39.07	40.47	41.86	43.26	44.65	46.05	47.44	48.84
Nicaragua			76.60	76.93	77.26	77.59	77.92
Niger			9.40	10.82	12.24	13.66	15.08	14.21	13.33	12.45	11.57	10.70	9.82	8.94
Nigeria					43.32	42.94	42.55	42.16	41.77	41.39
Oman					73.53	75.00	76.47	77.94	79.40	80.87	81.34	81.80	83.58	85.37	87.15	88.93	86.04
Pakistan							35.37	39.61	39.85	40.08	40.31	41.02	41.98	43.07	41.97	44.28
Palau															99.53	97.93	96.34
Panama		91.25	91.47	91.69	91.92	92.14	92.37	92.59	92.81	93.04	93.26	93.49
Papua New Guinea		50.92
Paraguay									93.45	92.49	93.14	92.93	93.13	93.33	93.53	93.73	94.34
Peru						82.06	82.45	83.45	84.65	85.85	87.06	88.26	89.46	90.67	90.56	90.45	91.25	91.19
Philippines		92.65	92.96	93.26	93.56	94.02	94.47	94.92	95.37	95.83	96.02	96.21	96.40	96.60	96.79
Portugal													92.86
Puerto Rico												92.53
Qatar						88.61	89.22	89.83	90.44	92.66	92.91	95.40	95.56	95.77	97.07	97.56
Romania				96.27	96.48	96.70	96.91	97.13	97.34	97.56	97.77	97.99	98.21
Russia				99.23	99.28	99.33	99.39	99.44	99.49	99.54	99.60	99.65
Rwanda		59.75	59.93	60.11	60.29	60.47	60.65	60.83	61.01	61.19	61.37	61.55	63.11	64.66
Samoa													99.07
Saint Thomas and Principe			77.95	75.40	72.84	70.29	67.74	65.19	62.64	60.08	66.42	72.76	79.10	85.44
Saudi Arabia		69.29	71.05	72.81	74.57	76.34	78.01	79.68	81.35	83.02	84.69	86.36	88.03	89.70	91.37
Senegal				29.25	30.18	31.12	32.05	32.99	34.88	36.77	38.67	39.55	40.42	37.01	33.60
Serbia													96.75	97.04	97.34	97.64	97.93	98.23
Seychelles				92.26	92.53	92.81	93.08	93.35	93.63	93.90	94.18	94.45
Sierra Leone						24.16	24.24	24.31	24.39	24.47	24.55	24.62	24.70	24.78	24.86
Singapore		88.65	89.16	89.67	90.18	90.70	91.21	91.72	92.24	92.75	93.26	93.77	94.07	94.36	94.64	94.91	95.19	95.45
Solomon Islands	69.00
South Africa									87.04	89.41	91.77	91.71	92.05	92.59	92.83	93.07	93.41
South Sudan										19.19
Spain						96.23	96.93	97.09	97.26	96.89	96.93	97.00	97.07	97.22	97.44	97.49	97.55	97.70
Sri Lanka			89.14	89.13	89.12	89.11	89.10	89.09	89.08	89.07	89.52	89.96
Sudan		52.15	51.47	50.78	50.10	49.42	48.74	48.06	47.38	46.70
Suriname						87.20	88.84	90.48	92.12	93.77	93.88	94.00	92.50	91.00
Swaziland		80.33	80.54	80.75	80.96	81.18	81.39	81.60	81.81	82.02	82.24	82.45
Syria				74.24	73.93	73.63
Tajikistan		99.22
Tanzania				62.17	61.99	61.82	61.64	61.46	61.29	61.11	60.93	60.75	67.05	73.35	73.26	73.18	73.09
Thailand		90.52	90.72	90.92	91.12	91.33	91.53	92.51	93.49	94.47	95.45	96.43	95.03	93.64	92.25	91.72	91.19
Timor Leste			30.00	32.08	34.17	36.25	38.33	40.42	42.50	45.99	49.47	52.96
Togo		38.45	39.44	40.43	41.42	42.40	43.39	44.38	44.12	43.86	43.61	45.79	47.98	48.79	49.61	50.43	51.24
Tonga								99.08	99.15	99.22	99.29	99.36	99.43
Tunisia						65.35	66.40	67.46	68.51	70.96	71.03	71.09	71.73	72.16	72.19	72.22
Turkey						79.58	80.55	80.39	81.26	83.31	85.35	88.07	90.31	91.60	92.14	92.40	92.65
Uganda				58.91	59.70	60.49	61.29	62.08	62.71	63.34	63.96	64.59	63.28	61.97
Ukraine			99.17	99.24	99.31	99.39	99.46	99.53	99.60	99.67	99.74	99.82	99.89	99.96
United Arab Emirates							91.47
Uruguay								98.08	98.24	98.46	98.53	98.49	98.62	98.66	98.64	98.81	98.87
Uzbekistan		98.14	98.28	98.42	98.57	98.71	98.85	99.00	99.14	99.28	99.42	99.57	99.71	99.85	100.00	99.98	99.98
Venezuela			92.72	93.08	93.45	93.82	94.19	94.56	94.93	95.14	95.35	95.19	95.03	95.41	95.79	96.18	96.56	97.21
Vietnam	86.92	86.61	87.14	87.67	88.20	88.73	89.26	89.79	90.32	90.85	91.38
West Bank and Gaza						87.95	88.85	89.76	90.47	90.10	91.70	92.17	92.62	93.57	94.13	94.41	94.85	95.21
Zambia	59.80	60.48	61.16	61.84	59.83	57.82	55.81	53.80	51.79	60.44	69.09	77.75
Zimbabwe													80.07	82.81	85.54	88.28

Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people aged 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.

Source: UNESCO via World Bank

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