Highest Literacy Rates by Country 2026

society · %

North Korea has one of the world's highest adult literacy rates at 100.0%. Adult literacy rate measures the percentage of people aged 15 and above who can read and write. More than 80 countries report near-universal literacy, while significant gaps persist in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Rank		Country	%
1	🇰🇵	North Korea	100.0%
2	🇹🇻	Tuvalu	100.0%
3	🇺🇿	Uzbekistan	100.0%
4	🇷🇺	Russia	99.9%
5	🇸🇲	San Marino	99.9%
6	🇱🇻	Latvia	99.9%
7	🇹🇲	Turkmenistan	99.9%
8	🇪🇪	Estonia	99.9%
9	🇧🇾	Belarus	99.9%
10	🇵🇼	Palau	99.8%
11	🇦🇲	Armenia	99.8%
12	🇱🇹	Lithuania	99.8%
13	🇦🇿	Azerbaijan	99.8%
14	🇰🇿	Kazakhstan	99.7%
15	🇹🇯	Tajikistan	99.7%
16	🇪🇸	Spain	99.7%
17	🇬🇪	Georgia	99.7%
18	🇸🇮	Slovenia	99.5%
19	🇹🇴	Tonga	99.5%
20	🇺🇦	Ukraine	99.4%
21	🌐	Guam	99.4%
22	🇲🇩	Moldova	99.4%
23	🇮🇹	Italy	99.3%
24	🇷🇸	Serbia	99.3%
25	🇧🇧	Barbados	99.3%
26	🇰🇬	Kyrgyzstan	99.2%
27	🇷🇴	Romania	99.2%
28	🇦🇷	Argentina	99.1%
29	🇦🇬	Antigua and Barbuda	98.9%
30	🇺🇾	Uruguay	98.9%
31	🌐	Cayman Islands	98.9%
32	🇭🇺	Hungary	98.9%
33	🇦🇪	United Arab Emirates	98.8%
34	🇵🇱	Poland	98.7%
35	🇨🇾	Cyprus	98.7%
36	🇲🇳	Mongolia	98.6%
37	🇰🇮	Kiribati	98.6%
38	🇲🇪	Montenegro	98.5%
39	🇵🇭	Philippines	98.5%
40	🇧🇬	Bulgaria	98.3%
41	🇲🇻	Maldives	98.2%
42	🇭🇷	Croatia	98.2%
43	🇼🇸	Samoa	98.0%
44	🇰🇷	South Korea	98.0%
45	🇵🇸	Palestine	97.9%
46	🇸🇦	Saudi Arabia	97.9%
47	🇧🇭	Bahrain	97.8%
48	🇬🇩	Grenada	97.8%
49	🇶🇦	Qatar	97.8%
50	🇦🇱	Albania	97.7%
51	🇨🇺	Cuba	97.7%
52	🇸🇬	Singapore	97.7%
53	🇨🇷	Costa Rica	97.4%
54	🌐	American Samoa	97.3%
55	🇴🇲	Oman	97.3%
56	🇹🇷	Türkiye	97.3%
57	🇻🇪	Venezuela	97.2%
58	🇧🇦	Bosnia and Herzegovina	97.0%
59	🇹🇹	Trinidad and Tobago	96.9%
60	🌐	Aruba	96.8%
61	🇨🇳	China	96.7%
62	🇧🇴	Bolivia	96.7%
63	🇳🇷	Nauru	96.6%
64	🌐	Macau	96.5%
65	🇰🇼	Kuwait	96.5%
66	🇨🇱	Chile	96.4%
67	🇵🇦	Panama	96.2%
68	🌐	New Caledonia	96.1%
69	🇲🇰	North Macedonia	96.1%
70	🇻🇳	Vietnam	96.1%
71	🇧🇳	Brunei	96.1%
72	🇮🇩	Indonesia	96.0%
73	🇲🇾	Malaysia	95.8%
74	🇲🇭	Marshall Islands	95.8%
75	🇻🇨	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	95.6%
76	🇲🇽	Mexico	95.6%
77	🇨🇴	Colombia	95.3%
78	🇵🇾	Paraguay	94.9%
79	🇧🇷	Brazil	94.7%
80	🇵🇹	Portugal	94.5%
81	🇯🇴	Jordan	94.4%
82	🇸🇾	Syria	94.4%
83	🇲🇺	Mauritius	94.3%
84	🇩🇴	Dominican Republic	94.0%
85	🇸🇨	Seychelles	93.9%
86	🇬🇷	Greece	93.9%
87	🇵🇪	Peru	93.7%
88	🇲🇲	Myanmar	93.5%
89	🇪🇨	Ecuador	93.5%
90	🇲🇹	Malta	93.3%
91	🇿🇼	Zimbabwe	93.2%
92	🇸🇷	Suriname	92.9%
93	🇱🇰	Sri Lanka	92.7%
94	🌐	Puerto Rico	92.4%
95	🇱🇧	Lebanon	92.0%
96	🇮🇱	Israel	91.8%
97	🇿🇦	South Africa	91.2%
98	🇹🇭	Thailand	91.1%
99	🇸🇿	Eswatini	90.8%
100	🇱🇸	Lesotho	90.4%
101	🇸🇻	El Salvador	89.8%
102	🇮🇷	Iran	88.9%
103	🇬🇦	Gabon	88.9%
104	🇨🇻	Cape Verde	88.5%
105	🇬🇶	Equatorial Guinea	88.3%
106	🇭🇳	Honduras	88.3%
107	🇻🇺	Vanuatu	88.0%
108	🇧🇿	Belize	87.9%
109	🇳🇦	Namibia	87.6%
110	🇸🇹	São Tomé and Príncipe	87.4%
111	🇳🇮	Nicaragua	87.3%
112	🇵🇬	Papua New Guinea	87.0%
113	🇹🇳	Tunisia	86.3%
114	🇬🇾	Guyana	85.6%
115	🇮🇶	Iraq	84.1%
116	🇰🇪	Kenya	82.2%
117	🇬🇹	Guatemala	82.1%
118	🇧🇼	Botswana	81.2%
119	🇯🇲	Jamaica	79.9%
120	🇪🇬	Egypt	79.5%
121	🇧🇩	Bangladesh	79.0%
122	🇷🇼	Rwanda	78.8%
123	🇹🇿	Tanzania	78.2%
124	🇮🇳	India	78.2%
125	🇺🇬	Uganda	77.0%
126	🇸🇧	Solomon Islands	76.6%
127	🇬🇭	Ghana	76.5%
128	🇨🇬	Republic of the Congo	76.1%
129	🇱🇦	Laos	75.6%
130	🇰🇲	Comoros	75.6%
131	🇩🇿	Algeria	75.1%
132	🇲🇬	Madagascar	74.7%
133	🇹🇬	Togo	72.6%
134	🇨🇲	Cameroon	72.6%
135	🇰🇭	Cambodia	71.9%
136	🇿🇲	Zambia	71.8%
137	🇧🇮	Burundi	71.3%
138	🇳🇬	Nigeria	70.4%
139	🇲🇼	Malawi	70.2%
140	🇹🇱	Timor-Leste	69.4%
141	🇳🇵	Nepal	68.7%
142	🇨🇩	DR Congo	68.5%
143	🇦🇴	Angola	68.2%
144	🇭🇹	Haiti	68.0%
145	🇧🇹	Bhutan	64.9%
146	🇪🇷	Eritrea	64.7%
147	🇲🇦	Morocco	64.3%
148	🇬🇼	Guinea-Bissau	63.9%
149	🇲🇿	Mozambique	61.7%
150	🇪🇹	Ethiopia	60.5%
151	🇱🇾	Libya	60.2%
152	🇲🇷	Mauritania	59.5%
153	🇱🇷	Liberia	59.4%
154	🇵🇰	Pakistan	58.9%
155	🇸🇴	Somalia	54.1%
156	🇸🇩	Sudan	53.5%
157	🇬🇲	Gambia	51.6%
158	🇧🇯	Benin	51.4%
159	🇸🇳	Senegal	50.4%
160	🇨🇮	Ivory Coast	50.0%
161	🇸🇱	Sierra Leone	43.6%
162	🇨🇫	Central African Republic	42.4%
163	🇧🇫	Burkina Faso	41.6%
164	🇬🇳	Guinea	39.6%
165	🇦🇫	Afghanistan	37.3%
166	🇾🇪	Yemen	37.1%
167	🇲🇱	Mali	35.6%
168	🇳🇪	Niger	35.6%
169	🇹🇩	Chad	30.6%
170	🇸🇸	South Sudan	26.8%
—	🌐	Abkhazia	No data
—	🇦🇩	Andorra	No data
—	🇦🇺	Australia	No data
—	🇦🇹	Austria	No data
—	🇧🇸	Bahamas	No data
—	🌐	Belgium	No data
—	🌐	Bermuda	No data
—	🌐	British Virgin Islands	No data
—	🇨🇦	Canada	No data
—	🌐	Channel Islands	No data
—	🌐	Curacao	No data
—	🇨🇿	Czechia	No data
—	🇩🇰	Denmark	No data
—	🇩🇯	Djibouti	No data
—	🇩🇲	Dominica	No data
—	🌐	Faroe Islands	No data
—	🇫🇯	Fiji	No data
—	🇫🇮	Finland	No data
—	🇫🇷	France	No data
—	🌐	French Polynesia	No data
—	🇩🇪	Germany	No data
—	🌐	Gibraltar	No data
—	🌐	Greenland	No data
—	🌐	Hong Kong	No data
—	🇮🇸	Iceland	No data
—	🇮🇪	Ireland	No data
—	🌐	Isle of Man	No data
—	🇯🇵	Japan	No data
—	🌐	Kosovo	No data
—	🇱🇮	Liechtenstein	No data
—	🇱🇺	Luxembourg	No data
—	🇫🇲	Micronesia	No data
—	🇲🇨	Monaco	No data
—	🇳🇱	Netherlands	No data
—	🇳🇿	New Zealand	No data
—	🌐	Northern Cyprus	No data
—	🌐	Northern Mariana Islands	No data
—	🇳🇴	Norway	No data
—	🌐	Sint Maarten	No data
—	🇸🇰	Slovakia	No data
—	🌐	Somaliland	No data
—	🌐	South Ossetia	No data
—	🇰🇳	Saint Kitts and Nevis	No data
—	🇱🇨	Saint Lucia	No data
—	🌐	Saint Martin	No data
—	🇸🇪	Sweden	No data
—	🇨🇭	Switzerland	No data
—	🌐	Taiwan	No data
—	🌐	Turks and Caicos Islands	No data
—	🇬🇧	United Kingdom	No data
—	🇺🇸	United States	No data
—	🌐	U.S. Virgin Islands	No data
—	🌐	Western Sahara	No data

Key Insights

The top three countries in highest literacy rates by country 2026 are: North Korea (100.0%), Tuvalu (100.0%), Uzbekistan (100.0%). At the other end of the scale, South Sudan (26.8%), Chad (30.6%), Niger (35.6%) record the lowest values among countries with data. The median value across 170 countries with data is 93.9%.

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