India vs Indonesia: Adult literacy
Adult literacy: 78.2% in India in 2024 and 96% in Indonesia in 2020, by UNESCO estimates. In 2020 the value was higher in Indonesia, by 20.5 percentage points, or 1.27 times that in India.
IndiaIndonesia
Watch it change on the mapChange since 2006, percentage points · UNESCO
Latest figures
% of adults · UNESCO
| Country | Latest | 10 years before |
|---|---|---|
| India | 78.2 2024 | — |
| Indonesia | 96 2020 | 92.3 |
| World | 87.7 2024 | 85.6 |
What the numbers say
- Indonesia has been higher in every year both have figures for since 2006.
- The world as a whole: 87% in 2020.
Every year
% of adults · UNESCO
| Year | India | Indonesia | World |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 78.2 | – | 87.7 |
| 2023 | 81.7 | – | 87.6 |
| 2022 | 76.3 | – | 87.4 |
| 2021 | 76.1 | – | 87.2 |
| 2020 | 75.5 | 96 | 87 |
| 2019 | 74.9 | – | 86.8 |
| 2018 | 73.7 | 95.7 | 86.8 |
| 2017 | – | – | 86.5 |
| 2016 | – | 95.4 | 86.3 |
| 2015 | – | 95.2 | 86 |
| 2014 | – | 95.1 | 85.6 |
| 2013 | – | – | 85.2 |
| 2012 | 69.8 | – | 84.9 |
| 2011 | 69.3 | 92.8 | 84.7 |
| 2010 | 68.3 | 92.3 | 84.4 |
| 2009 | – | 92.6 | 83.8 |
| 2008 | – | 92.2 | 83.5 |
| 2007 | – | – | 83.1 |
| 2006 | 62.8 | 92 | 82.5 |
| 2005 | – | – | 82.6 |
| 2004 | – | 90.4 | 82.6 |
| 2003 | – | – | 82.2 |
| 2002 | – | – | 81.7 |
| 2001 | 61 | – | 81.4 |
| 2000 | – | – | 81.1 |
| 1999 | – | – | 80.9 |
| 1998 | – | – | 80.5 |
| 1997 | – | – | 79.3 |
| 1996 | – | – | 77.3 |
| 1995 | – | – | 76.9 |
| 1994 | – | – | 76.4 |
| 1993 | – | – | 76 |
| 1992 | – | – | 75.5 |
| 1991 | 48.2 | – | 75.1 |
| 1990 | – | 81.5 | 74.6 |
| 1989 | – | – | 74.1 |
| 1988 | – | – | 73.6 |
| 1987 | – | – | 71.9 |
| 1986 | – | – | 71.3 |
| 1985 | – | – | 70.7 |
| 1984 | – | – | 70.2 |
| 1983 | – | – | 69.5 |
| 1982 | – | – | 68.9 |
| 1981 | 40.8 | – | 68.4 |
| 1980 | – | 67.3 | 67.8 |
| 1979 | – | – | 67.2 |
| 1978 | – | – | 66.5 |
| 1977 | – | – | 65.9 |
| 1976 | – | – | 65.6 |
| 1975 | – | – | 65.4 |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- The share of people aged 15 and over who can read and write a short, simple statement about their everyday life.
- Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, via the World Bank.
- The faint line is the world as a whole, as the same source counts it.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time