Colombia vs Malaysia: Literate and illiterate world population

Colombia

4.7%

in 2024

Malaysia

4.2%

in 2022

Colombia rank

76th

Malaysia rank

78th

Literate and illiterate world population over time

Colombia currently reports 4.7% against 4.2% in Malaysia, a difference of 0.4%.

That makes Colombia's figure about 1.1 times Malaysia's.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 7 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Malaysia ahead.

Globally, Colombia ranks 76th and Malaysia ranks 78th of 128 countries.

Indicator: Literate and illiterate world population
Unit: %
Source: UNESCO (1957) and other sources – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 128 places, 1,272 data points, 1475–2024
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

Share of adults who cannot read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.