Most Educated Countries in the World 2026

Countries ranked by adult literacy rate — the percentage of people aged 15+ who can read and write.

The adult literacy rate measures the percentage of the population aged 15 and older that can read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life. While near-universal literacy has been achieved in most developed countries, significant gaps remain in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

#1
Tuvalu 100 % of adults
#2 Uzbekistan 100 #3 North Korea 100

All 170 countries

# Country Literacy Rate (Adults) (% of adults)
1 Tuvalu 100
2 Uzbekistan 100
3 North Korea 100
4 Russia 99.93
5 San Marino 99.91
6 Turkmenistan 99.9
7 Latvia 99.9
8 Estonia 99.89
9 Belarus 99.87
10 Palau 99.84
11 Armenia 99.84
12 Lithuania 99.82
13 Azerbaijan 99.78
14 Kazakhstan 99.73
15 Tajikistan 99.73
16 Spain 99.7
17 Georgia 99.68
18 Slovenia 99.52
19 Tonga 99.48
20 Ukraine 99.43
21 Guam 99.37
22 Moldova 99.36
23 Italy 99.35
24 Serbia 99.34
25 Barbados 99.27
26 Kyrgyzstan 99.24
27 Romania 99.16
28 Argentina 99.14
29 Antigua and Barbuda 98.95
30 Uruguay 98.91
31 Cayman Islands 98.87
32 Hungary 98.86
33 United Arab Emirates 98.81
34 Poland 98.74
35 Cyprus 98.68
36 Mongolia 98.64
37 Kiribati 98.61
38 Montenegro 98.53
39 Philippines 98.47
40 Bulgaria 98.35
41 Maldives 98.21
42 Croatia 98.15
43 Samoa 97.99
44 South Korea 97.97
45 Palestine 97.94
46 Saudi Arabia 97.93
47 Bahrain 97.82
48 Grenada 97.79
49 Qatar 97.75
50 Albania 97.68
51 Singapore 97.65
52 Cuba 97.65
53 Costa Rica 97.41
54 Oman 97.34
55 American Samoa 97.34
56 Turkey 97.26
57 Venezuela 97.18
58 Bosnia and Herzegovina 96.99
59 Trinidad and Tobago 96.94
60 Aruba 96.82
61 China 96.74
62 Bolivia 96.73
63 Nauru 96.59
64 Macau 96.54
65 Kuwait 96.46
66 Chile 96.4
67 Panama 96.23
68 New Caledonia 96.14
69 Vietnam 96.13
70 North Macedonia 96.13
71 Brunei 96.09
72 Indonesia 96
73 Mexico 95.9
74 Malaysia 95.77
75 Marshall Islands 95.76
76 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 95.63
77 Colombia 95.34
78 Paraguay 94.86
79 Brazil 94.74
80 Portugal 94.48
81 Jordan 94.44
82 Syria 94.42
83 Mauritius 94.29
84 Dominican Republic 94.03
85 Seychelles 93.95
86 Greece 93.91
87 Peru 93.66
88 Myanmar 93.53
89 Ecuador 93.49
90 Malta 93.31
91 Zimbabwe 93.23
92 Suriname 92.87
93 Sri Lanka 92.74
94 Puerto Rico 92.39
95 Lebanon 92.01
96 Israel 91.75
97 South Africa 91.15
98 Thailand 91.1
99 Eswatini 90.75
100 Lesotho 90.45
101 El Salvador 89.77
102 Iran 88.92
103 Gabon 88.86
104 Cape Verde 88.47
105 Equatorial Guinea 88.31
106 Honduras 88.25
107 Vanuatu 87.96
108 Belize 87.88
109 Namibia 87.64
110 São Tomé and Príncipe 87.44
111 Nicaragua 87.33
112 Papua New Guinea 87
113 Tunisia 86.25
114 Guyana 85.64
115 Iraq 84.06
116 Kenya 82.23
117 Guatemala 82.11
118 Botswana 81.19
119 Jamaica 79.92
120 Egypt 79.45
121 Bangladesh 79
122 Rwanda 78.76
123 Tanzania 78.21
124 India 78.16
125 Uganda 77.04
126 Solomon Islands 76.6
127 Ghana 76.49
128 Republic of the Congo 76.11
129 Laos 75.64
130 Comoros 75.62
131 Algeria 75.14
132 Madagascar 74.69
133 Togo 72.6
134 Cameroon 72.55
135 Cambodia 71.93
136 Zambia 71.77
137 Burundi 71.34
138 Nigeria 70.41
139 Malawi 70.15
140 Timor-Leste 69.4
141 Nepal 68.71
142 DR Congo 68.5
143 Angola 68.18
144 Haiti 68.01
145 Bhutan 64.91
146 Eritrea 64.66
147 Morocco 64.26
148 Guinea-Bissau 63.93
149 Mozambique 61.67
150 Ethiopia 60.46
151 Libya 60.16
152 Mauritania 59.53
153 Liberia 59.4
154 Pakistan 58.86
155 Somalia 54.12
156 Sudan 53.52
157 Gambia 51.64
158 Benin 51.38
159 Senegal 50.36
160 Ivory Coast 50
161 Sierra Leone 43.58
162 Central African Republic 42.44
163 Burkina Faso 41.57
164 Guinea 39.62
165 Afghanistan 37.27
166 Yemen 37.09
167 Mali 35.63
168 Niger 35.61
169 Chad 30.63
170 South Sudan 26.83

Methodology

World Bank

This ranking uses adult literacy rates from the World Bank (originally sourced from UNESCO Institute for Statistics). Literacy data relies on national census surveys conducted every 5-10 years, so data may not reflect the most current year for all countries.

Primary indicator: Literacy Rate (Adults)

Frequently Asked Questions

Many high-income countries stopped publishing adult literacy data once the rate effectively saturated near 99–100%. Their statistical agencies now track higher-resolution measures — functional literacy, digital skills, or PISA scores — instead. As a result, several wealthy countries are absent or have older observations, and the ranking is most informative for countries where literacy is still actively measured.

Adult literacy as defined by UNESCO is binary: it counts people aged 15+ who can read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life. It does not measure reading comprehension, critical thinking, or the functional literacy required for modern work. Countries with similar headline rates can have very different functional-literacy outcomes.

Several countries report 100% literacy because their statistical surveys round to whole percentage points and find no detectable illiteracy in the surveyed adult population. The data is precise enough to confirm near-universal literacy, but not precise enough to rank these countries against each other. They share the top tier rather than being meaningfully ordered.

Coverage depends on World Bank's available Literacy Rate (Adults) data. Some countries may not report this indicator every year, so WorldStats ranks each country using its latest comparable observation.

More country rankings

Richest Countries in the World Highest Earning Countries in the World Highest After-Tax Earnings Countries Safest Countries in the World Healthiest Countries in the World Most Populated Countries in the World