Countries with the lowest rates of literacy

Countries with the lowest rates of literacy

Introduction
	The following table lists the 42 countries with the lowest literacy rates, and for each country gives figures for
	per capita Gross National Product (GNP) in US dollars educational spending per child in US dollars, and literacy rates as a percentage of the population.
	The literacy-rate data was taken primarily from the 1993 World Education Report put out by UNESCO. Most experienced observers believe the literacy rates published by UNESCO are high since they are self-reported. Some could be off by as much as 50 percent.
	The table includes information on GNP and educational spending so that you can see some of the correlation between literacy and poverty.

Countries

The countries are listed by literacy rates in ascending order.

Countries	Per capita GNP ($)	Spending per child ($)	Literacy rate (%)
Burkina Faso	330	94	18.2
Nepal	170	38	20.1
Sierra Leone	240	133	20.7
Benin	360	114	23.4
Somalia	150	66	24.1
Malawi	200	60	25.5
Namibia	870	61	25.6
Sudan	310	191	27.1
Gambia	260	103	27.2
Niger	310	165	28.4
Afghanistan	230	97	29.4
Chad	190	35	29.8
Mali	270	80	32.0
Mozambique	80	21	32.9
Guinea	330	203	34.0
Ethiopia	120	64	34.8
Pakistan	380	79	34.8
Bangladesh	200	24	35.3
Mauritania	500	400	35.7
Guinea-Bissau	180	60	36.5
Oman	5,220	1,860	37.5
Senegal	710	201	38.3
Yemen (Sanaa)	600	523	38.5
Yemen (Aden)	490	324	39.1
Liberia	470	243	39.5
Angola	620	328	41.7
Togo	410	88	43.3
Central African Republic	390	120	47.7
India	350	62	48.2
Uganda	220	25	48.3
Egypt	600	200	48.4
Morocco	950	335	49.5
Burundi	210	84	50.0
Rwanda	310	79	50.2
Nigeria	270	69	50.7
Qatar	15,860	7616	51.6
Papua New Guinea	860	485	52.0
Haiti	370	2	53.0
Solomon Islands	510	209	53.5
Côte D'Ivoire	730	375	53.8
Iran	2,450	796	54.0
Cameroon, United Republic	940	142	54.1

Context for this page:

This page is an extract from the LinguaLinks Library, Version 4.0, published on CD-ROM by SIL International, 1999. [Ordering information.]

Page content last modified: 1 October 1999