Gender gap in adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban — Value — All age ranges or no breakdown by age — Urban by country
The Suite of Gender Indicators presents a set of indicators relevant to agrifood systems that are disaggregated by sex, with the aim of highlighting gender differences across agrifood systems. The initial set of indicators is based on those used in FAO’s 2023 Status of Women in Agrifood Systems (SWAFS) report and...
What the numbers show
Gender gap in adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban — Value — All age ranges or no breakdown by age — Urban is currently reported for 48 countries. The highest value is 21.3 % in Mali; the lowest is -1.97 % in Thailand.
The median across all reporting countries is 1.83 %, and the mean is 4.7 %.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 11.
Over the past decade 9 countries rose and 39 fell. The largest increase was in Jordan (up 391.6%), and the largest decrease in Dominican Republic (down 2,250.0%).
Gender gap in adult literacy rate, population 15+ years, urban: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mali | 21.3 % | 2018 | up 1.2% | flat |
| 1 | Iran (Islamic Republic of) | 7.56 % | 2016 | down 4.2% | falling |
| 2 | Benin | 20.44 % | 2022 | down 9.7% | falling |
| 2 | Türkiye | 5.23 % | 2015 | down 56.5% | falling |
| 3 | Morocco | 18.75 % | 2014 | down 18.7% | falling |
| 3 | Bolivia (Plurinational State of) | 1.93 % | 2023 | down 26.9% | falling |
| 4 | Senegal | 18.55 % | 2023 | up 0.2% | falling |
| 5 | Niger | 17.7 % | 2022 | up 17.3% | flat |
| 6 | Burkina Faso | 15.9 % | 2022 | down 9.1% | falling |
| 7 | Cambodia | 14.57 % | 2021 | up 48.5% | falling |
| 8 | Pakistan | 13.95 % | 2019 | down 19.5% | falling |
| 9 | Togo | 13.41 % | 2022 | down 35.6% | falling |
| 10 | Tunisia | 9.02 % | 2023 | down 16.3% | falling |
| 11 | Guatemala | 7.48 % | 2024 | down 7.1% | falling |
| 12 | Jordan | 5.26 % | 2023 | up 391.6% | volatile |
| 13 | Uganda | 5.07 % | 2016 | down 39.8% | falling |
| 14 | Bangladesh | 4.85 % | 2022 | down 30.3% | falling |
| 15 | El Salvador | 3.64 % | 2024 | down 20.5% | falling |
| 16 | Oman | 3.38 % | 2022 | down 55.1% | volatile |
| 17 | Peru | 3.26 % | 2020 | down 6.6% | falling |
| 18 | Singapore | 2.52 % | 2021 | down 41.7% | falling |
| 19 | Rwanda | 2.2 % | 2022 | up 205.6% | volatile |
| 20 | Palestine | 2.01 % | 2022 | down 55.1% | falling |
| 21 | Indonesia | 1.88 % | 2020 | down 36.1% | falling |
| 22 | Malaysia | 1.79 % | 2022 | down 51.4% | falling |
| 23 | Kuwait | 1.7 % | 2020 | down 75.3% | falling |
| 24 | Sri Lanka | 1.21 % | 2023 | down 25.3% | rising |
| 25 | Mexico | 1.16 % | 2020 | down 38.9% | falling |
| 26 | Paraguay | 0.8 % | 2024 | down 39.8% | falling |
| 27 | Spain | 0.79 % | 2020 | down 42.8% | falling |
| 28 | United Arab Emirates | 0.6 % | 2024 | down 45.0% | volatile |
| 29 | Ecuador | 0.59 % | 2022 | down 53.2% | falling |
| 30 | Brazil | 0.38 % | 2018 | down 48.6% | falling |
| 31 | Chile | 0.34 % | 2017 | down 32.0% | falling |
| 32 | Serbia | 0.3 % | 2022 | down 74.8% | volatile |
| 33 | Qatar | 0.23 % | 2014 | down 53.1% | volatile |
| 34 | Colombia | 0.07 % | 2024 | up 250.0% | volatile |
| 34 | Azerbaijan | 0.07 % | 2023 | down 58.8% | falling |
| 36 | Georgia | 0.03 % | 2024 | up 50.0% | volatile |
| 37 | Uzbekistan | 0 % | 2022 | down 100.0% | volatile |
| 38 | Argentina | -0.03 % | 2020 | down 150.0% | volatile |
| 39 | South Africa | -0.12 % | 2024 | down 117.4% | volatile |
| 40 | Armenia | -0.17 % | 2023 | down 440.0% | volatile |
| 41 | Dominican Republic | -0.43 % | 2024 | down 2,250.0% | volatile |
| 42 | Uruguay | -0.45 % | 2024 | up 34.8% | rising |
| 43 | Mongolia | -0.52 % | 2023 | down 550.0% | volatile |
| 44 | Honduras | -0.59 % | 2024 | down 166.3% | volatile |
| 45 | Thailand | -1.97 % | 2022 | down 199.5% | volatile |
About this data
The Suite of Gender Indicators presents a set of indicators relevant to agrifood systems that are disaggregated by sex, with the aim of highlighting gender differences across agrifood systems. The initial set of indicators is based on those used in FAO’s 2023 Status of Women in Agrifood Systems (SWAFS) report and on the recommendations of an expert consultation held in December 2023, and covers key dimensions including economic participation, governance, agency, social norms, assets and services, education, health, and nutrition. Indicator selection was informed by expert judgment and by the availability of data with sufficient geographic and temporal coverage to enable meaningful comparisons across regions and over time. While most indicators are produced and published by FAO and other international organizations, the objective of this domain is to provide a one-stop shop for sex-disaggregated data on agrifood systems.