India’s Literacy Rate at 80.9%: Urban–Rural and Gender Gaps Remain

India’s overall literacy rate among citizens aged 7 and above stands at 80.9%, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2023–24 report released by the National Sample Survey Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI). The data further revealed that the literacy rate among individuals aged five was 79.7%.

While the overall literacy figures are encouraging, there are gaps that need to be addressed.
 

Some of these issues include:
• Urban–Rural Divide
• Gender Disparity

But first, let’s look at the strong and weak performers.
The report revealed that smaller states and union territories showed higher literacy rates, with Mizoram emerging first at 98.2%. Mizoram was followed by Lakshadweep (97.3%), Nagaland (97.2%), Kerala (95.3%), and Meghalaya (94.2%).

States such as Tripura and Chandigarh also fared well with literacy rates of 93.7%. They were followed by Goa (93.6%), Puducherry (92.7%), and Manipur (92%).

Larger states seemed to struggle, as Andhra Pradesh reported a literacy rate of 72.6%, pulled down by rural areas.
In comparison, Jharkhand had a better literacy rate at 76.7%, followed by Rajasthan (75.8%), Madhya Pradesh (75.2%), and Bihar (74.3%).
Other states that performed better than Andhra Pradesh include Telangana (76.9%), Uttar Pradesh (78.2%), Chhattisgarh (78.5%), and Odisha (79%).

Urban–Rural Divide

The report revealed that the national urban literacy rate stood at 88.9% among individuals aged 7 and above. This was 11.4% higher than in rural areas, where the literacy rate was 77.5%.

A closer look at the data shows that larger states had greater differences in literacy rates between urban and rural populations.
In Madhya Pradesh, a 14-point gap was noted, with rural areas recording a literacy rate of 71.6% and cities reporting 85.7%.
Similarly, in Bihar, the rural literacy rate was 73.3% as against 84% in urban areas—indicating a 10.7-point gap.

However, smaller states showed a narrower divide. For instance, Mizoram’s rural literacy rate stood at 98.1% compared to 98.3% in urban areas. In Kerala, a 2.2-point gap was observed, with rural areas recording 94.2% and cities 96.4%.

Gender Disparity

While women continue to outperform men in many examinations, access to education for girls remains under-prioritized in several regions.

Nationally, the literacy rate among men stood at 87.2%, while only 74.6% of women were literate.
The gender gap was stark in rural areas, where 84.7% of men were literate compared to just 70.4% of women—a 14.3-point difference.
In urban areas, the gap was smaller, with 92.9% literacy among men and 84.9% among women, indicating an 8-point gap.

Once again, larger states reported higher disparities.
In Rajasthan, 85.9% of men were literate compared to 65.8% of women—a 20.1-point gap.
Bihar and Madhya Pradesh each reported a 16-point gender gap.

In contrast, top-performing states like Mizoram showed minimal gender disparity, with a gap of just 2.2 points (male 99.2%, female 97.0%).
In Meghalaya, the gap was 1.6 points (95.1% vs. 93.5%) and in Kerala, 96.7% of men were literate compared to 94.0% of women, a 2.7-point difference.

India’s rising literacy rate is a positive milestone, but the stark inequalities across states, genders, and urban–rural regions highlight a deeper, systemic challenge. Bridging these gaps will require targeted, data-driven interventions—particularly in underperforming regions. Unless inclusivity becomes central to education policy, the nation’s progress will remain uneven and incomplete.