Education · Africa ranking
Adult Literacy Rate by African country
Mauritius has the highest adult literacy rate of any African country, at 94.3%, ahead of Seychelles and Zimbabwe.
Share of people ages 15 and over who can read and write. 52 of 54 countries, ranked · UNESCO UIS, 2023.
Mauritius
Seychelles
ZimbabweBy region
Full ranking
| # | Country | Adult Literacy Rate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mauritius | 94.3% | |
| 2 | Seychelles | 93.9% | |
| 3 | Zimbabwe | 93.2% | |
| 4 | South Africa | 91.2% | |
| 5 | Eswatini | 90.8% | |
| 6 | Lesotho | 90.4% | |
| 7 | Gabon | 88.9% | |
| 8 | Cabo Verde | 88.5% | |
| 9 | Equatorial Guinea | 88.3% | |
| 10 | Namibia | 87.6% | |
| 11 | Sao Tome and Principe | 87.4% | |
| 12 | Tunisia | 86.3% | |
| 13 | Kenya | 82.2% | |
| 14 | Botswana | 81.2% | |
| 15 | Egypt | 79.5% | |
| 16 | Rwanda | 78.8% | |
| 17 | Tanzania | 78.2% | |
| 18 | Uganda | 77% | |
| 19 | Ghana | 76.5% | |
| 20 | Republic of the Congo | 76.1% | |
| 21 | Comoros | 75.6% | |
| 22 | Algeria | 75.1% | |
| 23 | Madagascar | 74.7% | |
| 24 | Togo | 72.6% | |
| 25 | Cameroon | 72.6% | |
| 26 | Zambia | 71.8% | |
| 27 | Burundi | 71.3% | |
| 28 | Nigeria | 70.4% | |
| 29 | Malawi | 70.2% | |
| 30 | Democratic Republic of the Congo | 68.5% | |
| 31 | Angola | 68.2% | |
| 32 | Eritrea | 64.7% | |
| 33 | Morocco | 64.3% | |
| 34 | Guinea-Bissau | 63.9% | |
| 35 | Mozambique | 61.7% | |
| 36 | Ethiopia | 60.5% | |
| 37 | Mauritania | 59.5% | |
| 38 | Liberia | 59.4% | |
| 39 | Somalia | 54.1% | |
| 40 | Sudan | 53.5% | |
| 41 | Gambia | 51.6% | |
| 42 | Benin | 51.4% | |
| 43 | Senegal | 50.4% | |
| 44 | Cote d'Ivoire | 50% | |
| 45 | Sierra Leone | 43.6% | |
| 46 | Central African Republic | 42.4% | |
| 47 | Burkina Faso | 41.6% | |
| 48 | Guinea | 39.6% | |
| 49 | Mali | 35.6% | |
| 50 | Niger | 35.6% | |
| 51 | Chad | 30.6% | |
| 52 | South Sudan | 26.8% |
South Africa
Eswatini
Lesotho
Gabon
Cabo Verde
Equatorial Guinea
Namibia
Sao Tome and Principe
Tunisia
Kenya
Botswana
Egypt
Rwanda
Tanzania
Uganda
Ghana
Republic of the Congo
Comoros
Algeria
Madagascar
Togo
Cameroon
Zambia
Burundi
Nigeria
Malawi
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Angola
Eritrea
Morocco
Guinea-Bissau
Mozambique
Ethiopia
Mauritania
Liberia
Somalia
Sudan
Gambia
Benin
Senegal
Cote d'Ivoire
Sierra Leone
Central African Republic
Burkina Faso
Guinea
Mali
Niger
Chad
South SudanGet this ranking via API
One call to /v1/data returns the latest Adult Literacy Rate figure for every country you pass — JSON, with source metadata on each observation.
curl "https://api.africa-api.com/v1/data?metric_key=adult_literacy_pct&latest=true&country_codes=NG,KE,ZA,EG" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AFRICA_API_KEY"Cite or republish this ranking
Data: Africa API — UNESCO UIS, 2023. Free to republish with a link to this page. Pull the live figures via the API above so your version never goes stale.
Embed this ranking
Drop this chart into your article or site — it stays live as the data updates. Paste the snippet anywhere HTML is allowed (a citation link is included).
Frequently asked questions
Which African country has the highest adult literacy rate?
Mauritius has the highest adult literacy rate in Africa at 94.3% (2023), followed by Seychelles and Zimbabwe.
Which African country has the lowest adult literacy rate?
South Sudan has the lowest adult literacy rate of the 52 African countries with data, at 26.8% (2008).
How many African countries report Adult Literacy Rate data?
52 of 54 African countries have a recent Adult Literacy Rate figure in the Africa API. Each value links to the country's full series with source and history.
How do I get this ranking via API?
Call GET /v1/data?metric_key=adult_literacy_pct&latest=true with the country codes you need and a free Africa API key — the response returns the latest value per country as JSON.
More education rankings