Adult Illiteracy Rates (15 Years & Over) in the Middle East

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Updated March 06, 2017

Some 774 million adults worldwide (age 15 and over) can't read, according to the Global Campaign for Education. Here's how the Middle East countries' illiteracy rates rank.

Middle East Illiteracy Rates

Rank	Country	Illiteracy rate (%)
1	Afghanistan	72
2	Pakistan	50
3	Mauritania	49
4	Morocco	48
5	Yemen	46
6	Sudan	39
7	Djibouti	32
8	Algeria	30
9	Iraq	26
10	Tunisia	25.7
11	Egypt	28
12	Comoros	25
13	Syria	19
14	Oman	18
15	Iran	17.6
16	Saudi Arabia	17.1
17	Libya	16
18	Bahrain	13
19	Turkey	12.6
20	Lebanon	12
21	U.A.E.	11.3
22	Qatar	11
23	Jordan	9
24	Palestine	8
25	Kuwait	7
26	Cyprus	3.2
27	Israel	3
28	Azerbaijan	1.2
29	Armenia	1
Sources: United Nations, 2009 World Almanac, The Economist