List of Indian states and union territories by literacy rate

Literacy rate in India is uneven and as such, different states and union territories of India have differences in their literacy rates. The following table shows the details from 1951 to 2011 census data on total literacy rate in percentage.[2][3] According to Census 2011, Kerala has the highest total literacy rate and female literacy rate whereas Lakshadweep had the highest male literacy rate. Bihar has the lowest male literacy rate, while Rajasthan has the lowest female literacy rate. Literacy figures are collected by census takers which essentially means literacy (or lack therefore) is self assessed.[2]

Literacy rate map of India, 2011.[1]

List

Source: Census of India, 2011[1][2]

States/Union	1951	1961	1971	1981	1991	2001	2011
Kerala	47.18	55.08	69.75	78.85	89.81	90.86	93.41
Lakshadweep	15.23	27.15	51.76	68.42	81.78	86.66	92.28
Mizoram	31.14	44.01	53.8	59.88	82.26	88.8	91.58
Tripura	-	20.24	30.98	50.1	60.44	73.19	87.75
Goa	23.48	35.41	51.96	65.71	75.51	82.01	87.40
Daman and Diu	-	-	-	-	71.2	78.18	87.07
Puducherry	-	43.65	53.38	65.14	74.74	81.24	86.55
Chandigarh	-	-	70.43	74.8	77.81	81.94	86.43
Delhi	-	61.95	65.08	71.94	75.29	81.67	86.34
Andaman and Nicobar Islands	30.3	40.07	51.15	63.19	73.02	81.3	86.27
Himachal Pradesh	-	-	-	-	63.86	76.48	83.78
Maharashtra	27.91	35.08	45.77	57.24	64.87	76.88	82.91
Sikkim	-	-	17.74	34.05	56.94	68.81	82.20
Tamil Nadu	-	36.39	45.4	54.39	62.66	73.45	80.33
Nagaland	10.52	21.95	33.78	50.28	61.65	66.59	80.11
Manipur	12.57	36.04	38.47	49.66	59.89	70.5	79.85
Uttarakhand	18.93	18.05	33.26	46.06	57.75	71.62	79.63
Gujarat	21.82	31.47	36.95	44.92	61.29	69.14	79.31
Dadra and Nagar Haveli	-	-	18.13	32.9	40.71	57.63	77.65
West Bengal	24.61	34.46	38.86	48.65	57.7	68.64	77.08
Punjab	-	-	34.12	43.37	58.51	69.65	76.68
Haryana	-	-	25.71	37.13	55.85	67.91	76.64
Karnataka	-	29.8	36.83	46.21	56.04	66.6	75.60
Meghalaya	-	26.92	29.49	42.05	49.1	62.56	75.48
Odisha	15.8	21.66	26.18	33.62	49.09	63.08	96.08
Assam	18.53	32.95	33.94	-	52.89	63.25	73.18
Chhattisgarh	9.41	18.14	24.08	32.63	42.91	64.66	71.04
Madhya Pradesh	13.16	21.41	27.27	38.63	44.67	63.74	70.63
Uttar Pradesh	12.02	20.87	23.99	32.65	40.71	56.27	69.72
Jammu and Kashmir	-	12.95	21.71	30.64	-	55.52	68.72
Andhra Pradesh	14.42	21.19	24.57	35.66	44.08	60.47	67.66
Jharkhand	12.93	21.14	23.87	35.03	41.39	53.56	67.63
Rajasthan	8.5	18.12	22.57	30.11	38.55	60.41	67.06
Arunachal Pradesh	-	7.13	11.29	25.55	41.59	54.34	66.95
Bihar	13.49	21.95	23.17	32.32	37.49	47	63.82
ALL	18.33	28.3	34.45	43.57	52.21	64.84	74.04

Notes

1. Literacy rates for 1951, 1961 and 1971 Censuses relate to population aged five years and above. The rates for the 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 Censuses relate to the population aged seven years and above. The literacy rate for 1951 in case of West Bengal relates to Total Population including 0-4 age group. Literacy rate for 1951 in respect of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Manipur are based on sample population.

2. India and Manipur figures exclude those of the three sub-divisions viz., Mao Maram, Paomata and Purul of Senapati district of Manipur as census results of 2001 in these three sub-divisions were cancelled due to technical and administrative reasons.

Source: Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.

References

1. "Ranking of states and union territories by literacy rate: 2011" (PDF). Government of India.
2. "Census 2011, Chapter 6 (State of Literacy), p.14" (PDF). Government of India.
3. "India at a glance". Government of India.