The table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighbouring countries in 2002. Adult literacy rate is based on the 15+ years age group, while the youth literacy rate is for the 15-24 years age group (i.e. youth is a subset of adults).
| China | 96.4% (2015) | 99.7% (2015) |
| Sri Lanka | 92.6% (2015) | 98.8% (2015) |
| Myanmar | 93.1% (2015) | 96.3% (2015) |
| World Average | 86.3% (2015) | 89.6% (2010) |
| India | 74.04% (2011) | 90.2% (2015) |
| Nepal | 64.7% (2015) | 86.9%(2015) |
| Pakistan | 60.00% (2015) | 74.8% (2015) |
| Bangladesh | 61.5% (2015) | 83.2% (2015) |
Indian states ranking 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 2011 and 2001 census data on total literacy rate, male literacy rate, female literacy rate and decadal difference in percentage. 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 total literacy rate and male literacy rates while Rajasthan has the lowest female literacy rate.
| India | 74.04 | 82.14 | 65.46 | 64.83 | 9.21 | |
| 1 | Kerala | 93.91 | 96.02 | 91.98 | 90.86 | 3.05 |
| 2 | Lakshadweep | 92.28 | 96.11 | 88.25 | 86.66 | 5.62 |
| 3 | Mizoram | 91.58 | 93.72 | 89.40 | 88.80 | 2.78 |
| 4 | Tripura | 87.75 | 92.18 | 83.15 | 73.19 | 14.56 |
| 5 | Goa | 87.40 | 92.81 | 81.84 | 82.01 | 5.39 |
| 6 | Daman & Diu | 87.07 | 91.48 | 79.59 | 78.18 | 8.89 |
| 7 | Puducherry | 86.55 | 92.12 | 81.22 | 81.24 | 5.31 |
| 8 | Chandigarh | 86.43 | 90.54 | 81.38 | 81.94 | 4.49 |
| 9 | Delhi | 86.34 | 91.03 | 80.93 | 81.67 | 4.67 |
| 10 | Andaman & Nicobar | 86.27 | 90.11 | 81.84 | 81.30 | 4.97 |
| 11 | Himachal Pradesh | 83.78 | 90.83 | 76.60 | 76.48 | 7.30 |
| 12 | Maharashtra | 82.91 | 89.82 | 75.48 | 76.88 | 6.03 |
| 13 | Sikkim | 82.20 | 87.29 | 76.43 | 68.81 | 13.39 |
| 14 | Tamil Nadu | 80.33 | 86.81 | 73.86 | 73.45 | 6.88 |
| 15 | Nagaland | 80.11 | 83.29 | 76.89 | 66.59 | 13.52 |
| 16 | Manipur | 79.85 | 86.49 | 73.17 | 69.93 | 9.92 |
| 17 | Uttarakhand | 79.63 | 88.33 | 70.70 | 71.62 | 8.01 |
| 18 | Gujarat | 79.31 | 87.23 | 70.73 | 69.14 | 10.17 |
| 19 | Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 77.65 | 86.46 | 65.93 | 57.63 | 20.02 |
| 20 | West Bengal | 77.08 | 82.67 | 71.16 | 68.64 | 8.44 |
| 21 | Punjab | 76.68 | 81.48 | 71.34 | 69.65 | 7.03 |
| 22 | Haryana | 76.64 | 85.38 | 66.77 | 67.91 | 8.73 |
| 23 | Karnataka | 75.60 | 82.85 | 68.13 | 66.64 | 8.96 |
| 24 | Meghalaya | 75.48 | 77.17 | 73.78 | 62.56 | 12.92 |
| 25 | Odisha | 73.45 | 82.40 | 64.36 | 63.08 | 10.37 |
| 26 | Assam | 73.18 | 78.81 | 67.27 | 63.25 | 9.93 |
| 27 | Chhattisgarh | 71.04 | 81.45 | 60.59 | 64.66 | 6.38 |
| 28 | Madhya Pradesh | 70.63 | 80.53 | 60.02 | 63.74 | 6.89 |
| 29 | Uttar Pradesh | 69.72 | 79.24 | 59.26 | 56.27 | 13.45 |
| 30 | Jammu & Kashmir | 68.74 | 78.26 | 58.01 | 55.52 | 13.22 |
| 31 | Jharkhand | 67.63 | 78.45 | 56.21 | 53.56 | 14.07 |
| 32 | Andhra Pradesh | 67.4 | 75.56 | 59.74 | -- | -- |
| 33 | Rajasthan | 67.06 | 80.51 | 52.66 | 60.41 | 6.65 |
| 34 | Arunachal Pradesh | 66.95 | 73.69 | 59.57 | 54.34 | 12.61 |
| 35 | Telangana | 66.5 | -- | -- | -- | -- |
| 36 | Bihar | 63.82 | 73.39 | 53.33 | 47.00 | 16.82 |