The bar chart below shows estimated world illiteracy rates by region and by gender for the last year. Summarise the information by selecting and reporting the main features, and make comparisons where relevant.

The chart outlines an estimation of worldwide

illiteracy

Use synonyms

rates from the previous year, categorised by geographical area and gender.

Overall

Linking Words

, a greater number of females than males faced complexities in reading during that period. As can be noticed,

this

Linking Words

trend remained consistent across nearly all regions globally, where women experienced higher

illiteracy

Use synonyms

percentages in comparison to men, with figures ranging from approximately 12% to 22%. Unless one examines the broader context, it may be overlooked that only two regions – Developed Countries and Latin America/Caribbean – demonstrated slight dissimilarities between the

genders

Change noun form

gender's

genders'

show examples

illiteracy

Use synonyms

rates. The approximated discrepancy of

illiteracy

Use synonyms

within these specific regions is believed to be less than 3-5%.

Conversely

Linking Words

, there were significant gaps in the rates of inability to read between males and females in venues beyond Developed Countries and Latin America/Caribbean. Specifically, East Asia/Oceania revealed a disparity of more than 10%,

while

Linking Words

Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia exhibited around a 20% difference. Ultimately, the situation was direst in the Arab States, where the recorded disparity surpassed 20%.