The bar chart illustrates the estimated illiteracy rates by gender across different regions of the world in the last year. The data compares the percentage of illiterate males and females in each region.
Overall, South Asia has the highest illiteracy rate among all regions, with a significant gap between male and female literacy levels. In contrast, developed countries have the lowest illiteracy rates, with minimal differences between genders.
A closer look at the data reveals that in South Asia, over 50% of females and approximately 30% of males are illiterate. Similar trends are observed in the Arab States and Sub-Saharan Africa, where female illiteracy rates exceed 50%, while male rates are around 30%. These three regions have the highest illiteracy levels globally.
In contrast, Latin America/Caribbean and East Asia/Oceania exhibit much lower illiteracy rates. In the Caribbean, around 20% of females and 10% of males are illiterate, whereas in East Asia, male illiteracy is slightly higher, close to 20%.
Finally, developed countries have the lowest illiteracy rates, with both male and female percentages close to 1-2%. This highlights a significant contrast between more developed and less developed regions in terms of literacy.