Most Literate Countries in the World (2026)

Uzbekistan leads with a literacy rate of 100.0%. High literacy rates correlate strongly with economic development, lower poverty, and better health outcomes. The global average adult literacy rate is approximately 87%.

Uzbekistan

100.0%

North Korea

100.0%

Tajikistan

100.0%

Most Literate Countries in the World - 170 countries ranked by Literacy Rate
Rank	Country	Literacy Rate	Population	Region
1	Uzbekistan	100.0%	36,361,859	Asia
2	North Korea	100.0%	26,498,823	Asia
3	Tajikistan	100.0%	10,590,927	Asia
4	Palau	100.0%	17,695	Oceania
5	Tuvalu	100.0%	9,646	Oceania
6	Russia	99.9%	143,533,851	Europe
7	San Marino	99.9%	33,977	Europe
8	Turkmenistan	99.9%	7,494,498	Asia
9	Latvia	99.9%	1,866,124	Europe
10	Estonia	99.9%	1,372,341	Europe
11	Belarus	99.9%	9,132,629	Europe
12	Armenia	99.8%	3,033,500	Asia
13	Lithuania	99.8%	2,888,278	Europe
14	Azerbaijan	99.8%	10,202,830	Asia
15	Kazakhstan	99.7%	20,592,571	Asia
16	Spain	99.7%	48,848,840	Europe
17	Georgia	99.7%	3,699,557	Asia
18	Slovenia	99.5%	2,127,400	Europe
19	Ukraine	99.4%	37,860,221	Europe
20	Guam	99.4%	167,777	Oceania
21	Moldova	99.4%	2,402,306	Europe
22	Italy	99.3%	58,952,704	Europe
23	Serbia	99.3%	6,586,476	Europe
24	Barbados	99.3%	282,467	Americas
25	Kyrgyzstan	99.2%	7,221,868	Asia
26	Romania	99.2%	19,051,804	Europe
27	Argentina	99.1%	45,696,159	Americas
28	Antigua and Barbuda	99.0%	93,772	Americas
29	Uruguay	98.9%	3,386,588	Americas
30	Cayman Islands	98.9%	74,457	Americas
31	Hungary	98.9%	9,562,065	Europe
32	United Arab Emirates	98.8%	10,986,400	Asia
33	Poland	98.7%	36,559,233	Europe
34	Cyprus	98.7%	1,358,282	Europe
35	Mongolia	98.6%	3,524,788	Asia
36	Kiribati	98.6%	134,518	Oceania
37	Montenegro	98.5%	623,525	Europe
38	Philippines	98.5%	115,843,670	Asia
39	Bulgaria	98.3%	6,441,421	Europe
40	Maldives	98.2%	527,799	Asia
41	Croatia	98.2%	3,866,200	Europe
42	Samoa	98.0%	218,019	Oceania
43	South Korea	98.0%	51,751,065	Asia
44	Palestine	97.9%	5,289,152	Asia
45	Saudi Arabia	97.9%	35,300,280	Asia
46	Bahrain	97.8%	1,588,670	Asia
47	Grenada	97.8%	117,207	Americas
48	Qatar	97.8%	2,857,822	Asia
49	Albania	97.7%	2,377,128	Europe
50	Cuba	97.7%	10,979,783	Americas
51	Singapore	97.7%	6,036,860	Asia
52	Costa Rica	97.4%	5,129,910	Americas
53	Oman	97.3%	5,281,538	Asia
54	American Samoa	97.3%	46,765	Oceania
55	Turkey	97.3%	85,518,661	Asia
56	Venezuela	97.2%	28,405,543	Americas
57	Bosnia and Herzegovina	97.0%	3,164,253	Europe
58	Trinidad and Tobago	96.9%	1,368,333	Americas
59	Aruba	96.8%	107,995	Americas
60	China	96.7%	1,408,975,000	Asia
61	Nauru	96.6%	11,947	Oceania
62	Macau	96.5%	687,000	Asia
63	Kuwait	96.5%	4,897,263	Asia
64	Chile	96.4%	19,764,771	Americas
65	Ecuador	96.3%	18,135,478	Americas
66	Panama	96.3%	4,515,577	Americas
67	New Caledonia	96.1%	292,639	Oceania
68	Vietnam	96.1%	100,987,686	Asia
69	North Macedonia	96.1%	1,824,359	Europe
70	Brunei	96.1%	462,721	Asia
71	Indonesia	96.0%	283,487,931	Asia
72	Mexico	95.9%	130,861,007	Americas
73	Marshall Islands	95.8%	37,548	Oceania
74	Malaysia	95.8%	35,557,673	Asia
75	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	95.6%	100,616	Americas
76	Bolivia	95.5%	12,413,315	Americas
77	Colombia	95.3%	52,886,363	Americas
78	Paraguay	94.9%	6,929,153	Americas
79	Jordan	94.8%	11,552,876	Asia
80	Brazil	94.8%	211,998,573	Americas
81	Portugal	94.5%	10,694,681	Europe
82	Syria	94.4%	24,672,760	Asia
83	Mauritius	94.3%	1,245,779	Africa
84	Dominican Republic	94.0%	11,427,557	Americas
85	Seychelles	94.0%	121,354	Africa
86	Greece	93.9%	10,405,134	Europe
87	Peru	93.7%	34,217,848	Americas
88	Myanmar	93.5%	54,500,091	Asia
89	Malta	93.3%	568,847	Europe
90	Zimbabwe	93.2%	16,634,373	Africa
91	Suriname	92.9%	634,431	Americas
92	Sri Lanka	92.7%	21,916,000	Asia
93	Puerto Rico	92.4%	3,203,295	Americas
94	Lebanon	92.0%	5,805,962	Asia
95	Israel	91.8%	9,974,400	Asia
96	South Africa	91.2%	64,007,187	Africa
97	Thailand	91.1%	71,668,011	Asia
98	Tonga	91.0%	104,175	Oceania
99	Eswatini	90.8%	1,242,822	Africa
100	Lesotho	90.5%	2,337,423	Africa
101	El Salvador	89.8%	6,338,193	Americas
102	Iran	88.9%	91,567,738	Asia
103	Gabon	88.9%	2,538,952	Africa
104	Cape Verde	88.5%	524,877	Africa
105	Equatorial Guinea	88.3%	1,892,516	Africa
106	Honduras	88.3%	10,825,703	Americas
107	Vanuatu	88.0%	327,777	Oceania
108	Belize	87.9%	417,072	Americas
109	Namibia	87.6%	3,030,131	Africa
110	São Tomé and Príncipe	87.4%	235,536	Africa
111	Nicaragua	87.3%	6,916,140	Americas
112	Papua New Guinea	87.1%	10,576,502	Oceania
113	Tunisia	86.3%	12,277,109	Africa
114	Guyana	85.6%	831,087	Americas
115	Iraq	84.1%	46,042,015	Asia
116	Kenya	82.2%	56,432,944	Africa
117	Guatemala	82.1%	18,406,359	Americas
118	Zambia	82.0%	21,314,956	Africa
119	India	81.7%	1,450,935,791	Asia
120	Botswana	81.2%	2,521,139	Africa
121	Jamaica	79.9%	2,839,175	Americas
122	Egypt	79.5%	116,538,258	Africa
123	Uganda	79.1%	50,015,092	Africa
124	Bangladesh	79.0%	173,562,364	Asia
125	Rwanda	78.8%	14,256,567	Africa
126	Tanzania	78.2%	68,560,157	Africa
127	Solomon Islands	76.6%	819,198	Oceania
128	Ghana	76.5%	34,427,414	Africa
129	Republic of the Congo	76.1%	6,332,961	Africa
130	Comoros	75.8%	866,628	Africa
131	Laos	75.6%	7,769,819	Asia
132	Algeria	75.1%	46,814,308	Africa
133	Madagascar	74.7%	31,964,956	Africa
134	Togo	72.6%	9,515,236	Africa
135	Cameroon	72.5%	29,123,744	Africa
136	Timor-Leste	72.5%	1,400,638	Asia
137	Cambodia	71.9%	17,638,801	Asia
138	Burundi	71.4%	14,047,786	Africa
139	Nigeria	70.4%	232,679,478	Africa
140	Malawi	70.2%	21,655,286	Africa
141	Nepal	68.7%	29,651,054	Asia
142	Haiti	68.0%	11,772,557	Americas
143	Angola	66.2%	37,885,849	Africa
144	DR Congo	65.7%	109,276,265	Africa
145	Bhutan	64.9%	791,524	Asia
146	Eritrea	64.7%	3,535,603	Africa
147	Morocco	64.3%	38,081,173	Africa
148	Guinea-Bissau	63.9%	2,201,352	Africa
149	Mozambique	61.7%	34,631,766	Africa
150	Ethiopia	60.5%	132,059,767	Africa
151	Libya	60.2%	7,381,023	Africa
152	Mauritania	59.5%	5,169,395	Africa
153	Liberia	59.4%	5,612,817	Africa
154	Pakistan	58.9%	251,269,164	Asia
155	Somalia	54.1%	19,009,151	Africa
156	Sudan	53.5%	50,448,963	Africa
157	Gambia	51.6%	2,759,988	Africa
158	Benin	51.4%	14,462,724	Africa
159	Senegal	50.4%	18,501,984	Africa
160	Ivory Coast	50.0%	31,934,230	Africa
161	Sierra Leone	43.6%	8,642,022	Africa
162	Central African Republic	42.4%	5,330,690	Africa
163	Burkina Faso	41.4%	23,548,781	Africa
164	Guinea	39.6%	14,754,785	Africa
165	Afghanistan	37.3%	42,647,492	Asia
166	Yemen	37.1%	40,583,164	Asia
167	Niger	35.6%	27,032,412	Africa
168	Mali	35.5%	24,478,595	Africa
169	Chad	30.6%	20,299,123	Africa
170	South Sudan	26.8%	11,943,408	Africa

Which Countries Have the Highest Literacy Rates?

Uzbekistan leads with 100.0% literacy, alongside many countries that have achieved near-universal literacy. The global average is approximately 85.3%.

Literacy is foundational for economic development, health outcomes, and social participation. Countries with higher literacy tend to have more productive workforces, lower fertility, and better health outcomes. Gender gaps have narrowed substantially but persist in some regions.

Measuring Literacy: Definitions and Limitations

Definitions of literacy vary — some surveys measure basic reading ability, while others assess functional literacy. Self-reported literacy may overstate actual ability. Digital literacy, increasingly important in the modern economy, is not captured in traditional statistics.

Countries with the highest rates share a common characteristic: sustained investment in education over many decades, including universal primary and secondary education and adult literacy programs.

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All Rankings

Most Literate Countries in the World (2026)

Uzbekistan

North Korea

Tajikistan

Which Countries Have the Highest Literacy Rates?

Measuring Literacy: Definitions and Limitations

Related Research

All Rankings

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