Countries ranked by adult literacy rate

Every country ranked by adult literacy rate, highest to lowest. North Korea tops the list at 100.0%; South Sudan is lowest at 26.8%.

See it on the interactive mappublic

Highest

1North Korea100.0%
2Tokelau100.0%
3Tuvalu100.0%
4Uzbekistan100.0%
5Belarus99.9%

Lowest

207South Sudan26.8%
206Chad30.6%
205Niger35.6%
204Mali35.6%
203Yemen37.1%

Full ranking — all 207 countries

#	Country	Adult literacy rate
1	North Korea	100.0%
2	Tokelau	100.0%
3	Tuvalu	100.0%
4	Uzbekistan	100.0%
5	Belarus	99.9%
6	Estonia	99.9%
7	Latvia	99.9%
8	Russia	99.9%
9	San Marino	99.9%
10	Turkmenistan	99.9%
11	Armenia	99.8%
12	Azerbaijan	99.8%
13	Lithuania	99.8%
14	Palau	99.8%
15	Spain	99.7%
16	Georgia	99.7%
17	Kazakhstan	99.7%
18	Tajikistan	99.7%
19	Slovenia	99.5%
20	Tonga	99.5%
21	Guam	99.4%
22	Moldova	99.4%
23	Ukraine	99.4%
24	Wallis and Futuna	99.4%
25	Barbados	99.3%
26	Italy	99.3%
27	Qatar	99.3%
28	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	99.3%
29	Serbia	99.3%
30	Kyrgyzstan	99.2%
31	Romania	99.2%
32	Argentina	99.1%
33	Niue	99.1%
34	Antigua and Barbuda	99.0%
35	Cayman Islands	98.9%
36	Hungary	98.9%
37	Uruguay	98.9%
38	United Arab Emirates	98.8%
39	Cyprus	98.7%
40	Poland	98.7%
41	Kiribati	98.6%
42	Mongolia	98.6%
43	Australia	98.5%
44	Austria	98.5%
45	Switzerland	98.5%
46	Germany	98.5%
47	Denmark	98.5%
48	Finland	98.5%
49	Faroe Islands	98.5%
50	United Kingdom	98.5%
51	Greenland	98.5%
52	Isle of Man	98.5%
53	Ireland	98.5%
54	Iceland	98.5%
55	Liechtenstein	98.5%
56	Montenegro	98.5%
57	Netherlands	98.5%
58	Norway	98.5%
59	New Zealand	98.5%
60	Philippines	98.5%
61	Sweden	98.5%
62	Bulgaria	98.3%
63	Croatia	98.2%
64	Maldives	98.2%
65	South Korea	98.0%
66	Samoa	98.0%
67	Palestine	97.9%
68	Saudi Arabia	97.9%
69	Bahrain	97.8%
70	Grenada	97.8%
71	Albania	97.7%
72	Cuba	97.7%
73	Singapore	97.7%
74	Canada	97.5%
75	Japan	97.5%
76	Costa Rica	97.4%
77	American Samoa	97.3%
78	Oman	97.3%
79	Turkey	97.3%
80	Venezuela	97.2%
81	Bosnia and Herzegovina	97.0%
82	Trinidad and Tobago	96.9%
83	Aruba	96.8%
84	Bolivia	96.7%
85	China	96.7%
86	Nauru	96.6%
87	Belgium	96.5%
88	Bermuda	96.5%
89	France	96.5%
90	Kuwait	96.5%
91	Luxembourg	96.5%
92	Macao	96.5%
93	Monaco	96.5%
94	Saint Helena	96.5%
95	United States	96.5%
96	Chile	96.4%
97	Panama	96.2%
98	Brunei	96.1%
99	North Macedonia	96.1%
100	New Caledonia	96.1%
101	Vietnam	96.1%
102	Indonesia	96.0%
103	Marshall Islands	95.8%
104	Malaysia	95.8%
105	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	95.6%
106	Mexico	95.5%
107	Anguilla	95.4%
108	Colombia	95.3%
109	Paraguay	94.9%
110	Brazil	94.7%
111	Portugal	94.5%
112	Jordan	94.4%
113	Syria	94.4%
114	Mauritius	94.3%
115	Dominican Republic	94.0%
116	Seychelles	94.0%
117	Greece	93.9%
118	Peru	93.7%
119	Ecuador	93.5%
120	Myanmar	93.5%
121	Malta	93.3%
122	Zimbabwe	93.2%
123	Suriname	92.9%
124	Martinique	92.8%
125	Sri Lanka	92.7%
126	Cook Islands	92.5%
127	Falkland Islands	92.5%
128	Puerto Rico	92.4%
129	Lebanon	92.0%
130	Israel	91.8%
131	South Africa	91.2%
132	Thailand	91.1%
133	Eswatini	90.8%
134	Lesotho	90.5%
135	Guadeloupe	90.1%
136	El Salvador	89.8%
137	Gabon	88.9%
138	Iran	88.9%
139	Cape Verde	88.5%
140	Equatorial Guinea	88.3%
141	Honduras	88.2%
142	Vanuatu	88.0%
143	Belize	87.9%
144	Namibia	87.6%
145	Sao Tome and Principe	87.4%
146	Nicaragua	87.3%
147	Papua New Guinea	87.0%
148	Tunisia	86.2%
149	Guyana	85.6%
150	Iraq	84.1%
151	French Guiana	82.9%
152	Kenya	82.2%
153	Guatemala	82.1%
154	Botswana	81.2%
155	Jamaica	79.9%
156	Egypt	79.5%
157	Bangladesh	79.0%
158	Rwanda	78.8%
159	Reunion	78.6%
160	India	78.2%
161	Tanzania	78.2%
162	Uganda	77.0%
163	Solomon Islands	76.6%
164	Ghana	76.5%
165	Congo	76.1%
166	Comoros	75.6%
167	Laos	75.6%
168	Algeria	75.1%
169	Madagascar	74.7%
170	Togo	72.6%
171	Cameroon	72.5%
172	Cambodia	71.9%
173	Zambia	71.8%
174	Burundi	71.3%
175	Nigeria	70.4%
176	Malawi	70.2%
177	East Timor	69.4%
178	Nepal	68.7%
179	Democratic Republic of Congo	68.5%
180	Angola	68.2%
181	Haiti	68.0%
182	Bhutan	64.9%
183	Eritrea	64.7%
184	Morocco	64.3%
185	Guinea-Bissau	63.9%
186	Mozambique	61.7%
187	Ethiopia	60.5%
188	Libya	60.2%
189	Mauritania	59.5%
190	Liberia	59.4%
191	Pakistan	58.9%
192	Somalia	54.1%
193	Sudan	53.5%
194	Gambia	51.6%
195	Benin	51.4%
196	Senegal	50.4%
197	Cote d'Ivoire	50.0%
198	Sierra Leone	43.6%
199	Central African Republic	42.4%
200	Burkina Faso	41.6%
201	Guinea	39.6%
202	Afghanistan	37.3%
203	Yemen	37.1%
204	Mali	35.6%
205	Niger	35.6%
206	Chad	30.6%
207	South Sudan	26.8%

Common questions

Which country has the highest adult literacy rate?

North Korea, at 100.0% — the highest of all 207 countries with data.

Which country has the lowest adult literacy rate?

South Sudan, at 26.8%, ranks lowest among the 207 countries in this list.

How many countries are ranked?

207 countries and territories with recent data are included, ordered from highest to lowest.

Where does the data come from?

UNESCO (via Our World in Data). The ranking updates as new data is published.

Source: UNESCO (via Our World in Data). See the data on the interactive adult literacy rate map, or browse all country rankings.

Last updated: 3 August 2026.