Do you know how literacy rates compare around the world? The global average literacy rate, which is the percentage of people over the age of 15 that can read and write, is 86.81%. Some countries have a literacy rate that is much higher than that, while other countries' literacy rates are significantly lower. U.S. Career Institute, a website that offers online degrees, created the following graphic that details the countries with the highest and lowest literacy rates in the world. There are several countries that come out on top with a 100% literacy rate. Topping the list are Andorra, Finland, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Norway, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and North Korea. There are also many countries that have a literacy rate of more than 99%. Some of these countries include Poland, Armenia, Cuba, Serbia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, and Lithuania. The countries with the lowest literacy rates around the world include Chad, Mali, South Sudan, Botswana, and Afghanistan.