| 1 - | Data refer to national literacy estimates from censuses or surveys conducted between 1999 and 2007, unless otherwise specified. Due to differences in methodology and timeliness of underlying data, comparisons across countries and over time should be made with caution. For more details, see http://www.uis.unesco.org/. |
| 2 - | For the purposes of calculating the GDI, a value of 99.0% was applied. |
| 3 - | In the absence of recent data, estimates for 2005 from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2003). Correspondence on adult and youth literacy rates. March. Montreal, based on outdated census or survey information, were used and should be interpreted with caution: the Bahamas 96.7 (for females) and 95.0 (for males), Barbados 99.8 and 99.7, Djibouti 61.4 and 79.9, Fiji 92.9 and 95.9, the Gambia 35.4 and 49.9, Guyana 98.7 and 99.2 and Hong Kong, China (SAR) 91.4 and 97.3. |
| 4 - | Data refer to an earlier year than that specified. |
| 5 - | For the purpose of calculating the GDI, the female and male values appearing in this table were scaled downward to reflect the maximum values for adult literacy (99%), gross enrolment ratios (100%), and GDP per capita (40,000 (PPP US$)). For more details, see http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/tn1. |
| 6 - | Data refer to Serbia and Montenegro prior to its separation into two independent states in June 2006. Data exclude Kosovo. |
| .. | Data not available |
| (.) | Greater (or less) than zero but small enough to be rounded off to zero at the displayed number of decimal points |
| < | Less than |
| - | Not applicable |
| T | Total |
