The bar chart illustrates the estimated illiteracy rates for males and females in six different world regions for the last year.
Overall, it is clear that women had higher illiteracy rates than men in all regions. The highest rates were in South Asia and the Arab States, while the lowest were in developed countries.
In developed countries, both genders had very low illiteracy, around 1-2%. In Latin America and East Asia, the rates were still relatively low, with less than 20% for both genders. However, the gap between males and females became larger in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab States, and South Asia. In these areas, female illiteracy was nearly twice as high as male illiteracy.
South Asia had the worst situation, with about 55% of women and 35% of men being illiterate. In contrast, developed countries showed the smallest difference between genders. It can be said that economic development has a strong impact on literacy levels. Also, cultural and social factors might influence education access for women in some regions