List of Indian states and union territories by literacy rate
Literacy rate in India is uneven and as such, different states and union territories of India have differences in their literacy rates. The following table shows the details from 1951 to 2011 census data on total literacy rate in percentage. According to Census 2011, Kerala has the highest total literacy rate and female literacy rate whereas Lakshadweep had the highest male literacy rate. Bihar has the lowest male literacy rate, while Rajasthan has the lowest female literacy rate. Literacy figures are collected by census takers which essentially means literacy is self assessed.List
Source: Census of India, 2011
| States/Union | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
| Kerala | 47.18 | 55.08 | 69.75 | 78.85 | 89.81 | 90.86 | 93.41 |
| Lakshadweep | 15.23 | 27.15 | 51.76 | 68.42 | 81.78 | 86.66 | 92.28 |
| Mizoram | 31.14 | 44.01 | 53.8 | 59.88 | 82.26 | 88.8 | 91.58 |
| Tripura | - | 20.24 | 30.98 | 50.1 | 60.44 | 73.19 | 87.75 |
| Goa | 23.48 | 35.41 | 51.96 | 65.71 | 75.51 | 82.01 | 87.40 |
| Daman and Diu | - | - | - | - | 71.2 | 78.18 | 87.07 |
| Puducherry | - | 43.65 | 53.38 | 65.14 | 74.74 | 81.24 | 86.55 |
| Chandigarh | - | - | 70.43 | 74.8 | 77.81 | 81.94 | 86.43 |
| Delhi | - | 61.95 | 65.08 | 71.94 | 75.29 | 81.67 | 86.34 |
| Andaman | 30.3 | 40.07 | 51.15 | 63.19 | 73.02 | 81.3 | 86.27 |
| Himachal Pradesh | - | - | - | - | 63.86 | 76.48 | 83.78 |
| Maharashtra | 27.91 | 35.08 | 45.77 | 57.24 | 64.87 | 76.88 | 82.91 |
| Sikkim | - | - | 17.74 | 34.05 | 56.94 | 68.81 | 82.20 |
| Tamil Nadu | - | 36.39 | 45.4 | 54.39 | 62.66 | 73.45 | 80.33 |
| Nagaland | 10.52 | 21.95 | 33.78 | 50.28 | 61.65 | 66.59 | 80.11 |
| Manipur | 12.57 | 36.04 | 38.47 | 49.66 | 59.89 | 70.5 | 79.85 |
| Uttarakhand | 18.93 | 18.05 | 33.26 | 46.06 | 57.75 | 71.62 | 79.63 |
| Gujarat | 21.82 | 31.47 | 36.95 | 44.92 | 61.29 | 69.14 | 79.31 |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli | - | - | 18.13 | 32.9 | 40.71 | 57.63 | 77.65 |
| West Bengal | 24.61 | 34.46 | 38.86 | 48.65 | 57.7 | 68.64 | 77.08 |
| Punjab | - | - | 34.12 | 43.37 | 58.51 | 69.65 | 76.68 |
| Haryana | - | - | 25.71 | 37.13 | 55.85 | 67.91 | 76.64 |
| Karnataka | - | 29.8 | 36.83 | 46.21 | 56.04 | 66.6 | 75.60 |
| Meghalaya | - | 26.92 | 29.49 | 42.05 | 49.1 | 62.56 | 75.48 |
| Odisha | 15.8 | 21.66 | 26.18 | 33.62 | 49.09 | 63.08 | 96.08 |
| Assam | 18.53 | 32.95 | 33.94 | - | 52.89 | 63.25 | 73.18 |
| Chhattisgarh | 9.41 | 18.14 | 24.08 | 32.63 | 42.91 | 64.66 | 71.04 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 13.16 | 21.41 | 27.27 | 38.63 | 44.67 | 63.74 | 70.63 |
| Uttar Pradesh | 12.02 | 20.87 | 23.99 | 32.65 | 40.71 | 56.27 | 69.72 |
| Jammu and Kashmir | - | 12.95 | 21.71 | 30.64 | - | 55.52 | 68.72 |
| Andhra Pradesh | 14.42 | 21.19 | 24.57 | 35.66 | 44.08 | 60.47 | 67.66 |
| Jharkhand | 12.93 | 21.14 | 23.87 | 35.03 | 41.39 | 53.56 | 67.63 |
| Rajasthan | 8.5 | 18.12 | 22.57 | 30.11 | 38.55 | 60.41 | 67.06 |
| Arunachal Pradesh | - | 7.13 | 11.29 | 25.55 | 41.59 | 54.34 | 66.95 |
| Bihar | 13.49 | 21.95 | 23.17 | 32.32 | 37.49 | 47 | 63.82 |
| ALL | 18.33 | 28.3 | 34.45 | 43.57 | 52.21 | 64.84 | 74.04 |
