The bar chart below shows estimated world illiteracy rates by region and by gender for the last year.

The bar chart below compares estimated global

illiteracy

rates

by region and gender for the

last

year.

Overall

, women's

rates

were higher than men's around the world.

In addition

,

illiteracy

was significantly higher in sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab world and South

Asia

. Developed countries had the lowest

illiteracy

rates

for both sexes,

while

South

Asia

had the highest. For males, the

illiteracy

rate was below 30% in 4 different regions, with the exception of Sub-Saharan Africa and South

Asia

.

On the other hand

, the female rate was above 30% in 3 regions.

In addition

, the women’s

rates

varied between 12% and 20% for the Caribbean and East

Asia

. One of the interesting data is that the

illiteracy

rates

for men and women in the Americas/Caribbean were almost similar at 10% and 12% respectively. It is another kettle in fish in the Arab States, where the difference between male and female

rates

was considerably higher at 28% and 52% respectively.