Literacy rate
The share of people aged 7 and over who can read and write with understanding.
The census counts a person as literate if they can both read and write with understanding in any language. Crucially the denominator is the population aged 7 and above, not the whole population, so a literacy rate calculated against total population will not match the published figure. No formal schooling is required for the test.
Where you will see this on the site
This term appears in the census tables reproduced across state, district, tehsil and village pages. How we source and handle those figures is set out on the about the data page.
Related terms
- Tehsil · The administrative unit between a district and a vi…
- Revenue village · The smallest unit with its own land records, which …
- Sex ratio · The number of females for every 1000 males.
- Child sex ratio · Females per 1000 males counting only children aged …
- Rural and urban · How the census decides whether a place counts as a …
- Household · A group of people who normally live together and ea…
Page last reviewed: August 2026. Back to the glossary