Kerala has the highest literacy rate in India.
The literacy rate is one of the keys to measuring socio-economic progress. For calculating the effective literacy rate, the population aged seven years and above is taken into account. India had a literacy rate of around 12% at the time of independence. Through multi-tier efforts, it has now attained a literacy rate of 74.04% as per the 2011 census. However, the current literacy rate of India is still way below the world average of 84%.
As per the 2011 census, the state of Kerala has the highest literacy rate at 93.91%. The male literacy rate in Kerala is 96.02% whereas the female literacy rate is 91.98%. The state has registered a decadal growth of 3.14 percentage points from the 2001 census.
Mizoram comes in second place with 91.58% of the population being literate as per the 2011 census. The male literacy rate is 93.72% whereas the female literacy rate is 89.40%. The state of Mizoram has registered a decadal growth of 2.53 percentage points.
Tripura comes in third place with a literacy rate of 87.75% as per the 2011 census. The male literacy rate is 92.18% whereas the female literacy rate is 83.15%. The state has registered a decadal growth of 14.03 percentage points.
Tripura is closely followed by Goa, with a literacy rate of 87.40% as per the 2011 census. The male literacy rate is 92.81% whereas the female literacy rate is 81.84%. The state has registered a remarkable decadal growth of 6.69 percentage points.
Among the Union Territories, Lakshadweep has the highest literacy rate of 92.28%. The male literacy rate is 96.11% whereas the female literacy rate is 88.25%. Lakshadweep has registered a decadal growth of 5.19 percentage points.
Bihar has the lowest literacy rate, which is only 63.82%. The male literacy rate is 73.39% whereas the female literacy rate is 53.33%. However, the state has registered a decadal growth of 14.8 percentage points, which is a good sign.
Among the Union Territories, Jammu & Kashmir (including UT of Ladakh) has the lowest literacy rate at 68.74%. The male literacy rate is 78.26% whereas the female literacy rate is 58.01%. (For Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, combined data of unified Jammu & Kashmir is available, before the bifurcation of the state.)
