Literacy Rate among the Indian States: All you need to know about the report published by National Statistical Office (NSO)
National Statistical Office (NSO) published a report on 'Household Social Consumption: Education', surveying 1.13 lakh households spread over 8,000 villages and 6,000 urban blocks. The report is based on the data collected between 2017-18 and is for the age group 7 or above. As per the report, Kerala is the most literate state in the country while Andhra Pradesh has emerged as the least literate state in the country.
Findings of the Report
1- Kerala has the highest literacy rate among the Indian states-- 96.2%.
2- National Capital Delhi stands on number two with 89% literacy rate.
3- Andhra Pradesh has ranked the worst amongst all the Indian states with 66.4% literacy rate.
4- Average literacy rate of the country is 77.7%. Karnataka and Telangana have a literacy rate lower than the national average-- 72.8% and 77.2% respectively.
5- Uttarakhand stands at number three with a literacy rate of 87.6% and Assam stands at number four with 85.9% literacy rate.
6- The gap between the male and female literacy rate is thinnest in Kerala with a 2.2% difference.
7- The gap between male and female literacy rate at all India level is 14.4%. The male literacy rate is 84.7% while the female literacy rate is 70.3%.
8- The state of Kerala has the lowest gap between the urban and rural literacy rates-- 1.9%.
9- Telangana has the worst literacy gap between the rural and urban areas. The urban literacy rate of Telangana is 23.4% higher than the rural literacy rates. The state of Andhra Pradesh has this difference by 19.2%.
What is the literacy rate?
The literacy rate is defined as the percentage of literate persons among persons of 7 years and above. A person who can read and write a simple message in any language with understanding is considered literate in NSS surveys.