Literacy rate — all countries

Literacy rate — Nepal

Literacy rate in Nepal in 2019 — 68.71%. Ranked 44 in the world out of 56. Since 1981, the indicator has risen by 48.14 pp.

2019 68.71% +1.84 pp vs 2017
World rank 44of 56
Period maximum 68.71%2019
Period minimum 20.57%1981

Trend over time

1981–2019 · % of population aged 15+

Literacy rate — Nepal, 1981–2019020406080198119851989199319972001200520092013201720191981: 20.57%1991: 32.98%2001: 48.61%2008: 55.56%2011: 59.63%2016: 65.5%2017: 66.87%2019: 68.71%
Change over the period: +48.14 pp Annual average: 1.27 pp

Comparison, 2019

How the value compares with the world and the groups this territory belongs to: Nepal

Nepal 68.71%
World 86.79%
South Asia 74.51%
Southern Asia computed 73.52%
Literacy rate — Nepal, by year Nepal All countries CSV XLSX
Year % Change, pp
2019 68.71
2017 66.87 +1.37 pp
2016 65.5
2011 59.63
2008 55.56
2001 48.61
1991 32.98
1981 20.57

Southern Asia, 2019

The same indicator for neighboring countries — with links to their pages

About the indicator

The share of the population aged 15 and older able to read and write a short simple statement about their everyday life. The UNESCO definition is deliberately minimal — it is the threshold of functional literacy, not an assessment of the quality of education. In most countries the data come from censuses and surveys, so they are updated irregularly.

Important: The series is incomplete: values are published only for the years in which a census or a literacy survey was conducted.

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), license CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.