Humanities › Issues Adult Illiteracy Rates (15 Years & Over) in the Middle East Share Flipboard Email Print Issues The Middle East Basics Middle East & The U.S. Policy The U. S. Government U.S. Foreign Policy U.S. Liberal Politics U.S. Conservative Politics Women's Issues Civil Liberties Terrorism Race Relations Immigration Crime & Punishment Animal Rights Canadian Government View More By Pierre Tristam Political Journalist B.A., Politics and History, New York University Pierre Tristam is an award-winning writer who covers Middle East, foreign affairs, immigration, and civil liberties. He has been writing for more than 20 years. our editorial process Pierre Tristam 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