KATHMANDU, June 26: Nepal’s literacy rate has reached 77.4 percent, showing an impressive growth in the educated population of the country. 

The report of Nepal Living Standard survey (NLSS) 2022/23, unveils the national average literacy rate of the country at 77.4 percent. It is 1.1 percent more than 76.3 percent reported by National Census 2021. 

The current statistics show that the national male literacy rate is 85.8 percent and the literacy rate of women stands at just 70.1 percent. This shows that the women-educated ratio is 14.9 percent less than that of men. 

In province wise comparison, Gandaki Province shows the highest literacy rate of 83.4 percent, with male literacy rate of 91.3 percent and women literacy rate of 76.6 percent. 

Gandaki is closely followed by Bagmati Province where 83 percent of the population is literate. The Kathmandu Valley alone has a literacy rate of 89.6 percent, with the male literacy rate recorded at 94.7 percent. 

However, Madhesh Province shows the lowest literacy rate of 68.3 percent, with male literacy rate being 77.9 percent and women literacy rate of  59.9 percent. 

Lumbini Province with a literacy rate of 80.1 percent stands at the third ranking of the national average, which is followed by Koshi Province with 78.2 percent. Similarly,  Sudurpaschim and Karnali provinces have literacy rates of 73.5 percent and 76.6 percent, respectively. 

Furthermore, the literacy rate of citizens above 15 years of age has increased to 72.5 percent. Statistics indicate that the male literacy rate is 82.9 percent and the female literacy rate is 64.1 percent in this age group.

The NLSS report shows that there has been a significant rise in Nepal’s youth literacy in the last 30 years. In 1995/96, the literacy rate in the age group of above 15 years was only 35.6 percent. 

 
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