COUNTRIES WITH HIGHER FEMALE LITERACY RATES THAN MALE LITERACY RATES
These countries are oddities, since most discrepanies between male and female literacy rates favor the males. The countries listed here have women favored by at least 5 points over men.
Lesotho's large discrepancy in favor of the women could be due partly to the large migration of men from Lesotho to surrounding South Africa who are either
able-bodied or educated, thus leaving behind less-skilled and less-educated men. Regardless, Lesotho has still seen rapid growth in its literacy rate during the past 10 years.
COUNTRY
1. Lesotho
2. Jamaica
3. United Arab Emirates
4. Botswana
LITERACY RATE
OF FEMALES (%)
94.5
91.6
81.7
82.4
LITERACY RATE
OF MALES (%)
74.5
84.1
76.1
76.9
DIFFERENCE
20.0
7.5
5.6
5.5
Source: CIA World Factbook, 2004 (using mostly 2003 data).
