Of people aged 7 and older, what share can read and write. The Census uses 7+ as the standard cutoff to exclude very young children.
higher is better
vs all communities: -4.4pp behind
Explore the interactive chart, with breakdowns by state, sex, and urban vs rural →
| Community | Latest value |
|---|---|
| Muslim | 68.6% |
| Hindu | 73.3% |
| Jain | 94.9% |
| Christian | 84.6% |
| Buddhist | 81.3% |
| Sikh | 75.4% |
| Other | 59.9% |
| All communities | 73.0% |
| State / UT | Muslim | Hindu |
|---|---|---|
| Haryana | 77.1% | |
| Meghalaya | 77.2% | |
| Bihar | 62.9% | |
| Nagaland | 80.0% | |
| Uttar Pradesh | 69.7% | |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 79.1% | |
| Punjab | 80.1% | |
| Assam | 77.7% | |
| Rajasthan | 66.1% | |
| Uttarakhand | 81.2% | |
| Jharkhand | 67.7% | |
| Himachal Pradesh | 83.1% | |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 70.1% | |
| Manipur | 82.0% | |
| West Bengal | 79.1% | |
| Andhra Pradesh | 66.1% | |
| Chandigarh | 85.2% | |
| Madhya Pradesh | 68.6% | |
| NCT of Delhi | 87.3% | |
| Sikkim | 82.0% | |
| Mizoram | 91.8% | |
| Karnataka | 74.4% | |
| Odisha | 73.2% | |
| Gujarat | 77.5% | |
| Tripura | 88.2% | |
| Maharashtra | 81.8% | |
| Chhattisgarh | 69.8% | |
| Goa | 88.7% | |
| Daman & Diu | 87.1% | |
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | 75.6% | |
| Tamil Nadu | 78.8% | |
| Andaman & Nicobar Islands | 87.0% | |
| Puducherry | 85.1% | |
| Lakshadweep | 93.9% | |
| Kerala | 93.5% |
Computed Reproduce this view. This figure is computed from the linked published tables. Source: Census 2011 · C-series · Census 2001 · C-series. Each value is computed from the data file · transform code; every row records its own source and method.
| Community | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| Muslim | 74.8% | 62.1% |
| Other | 70.9% | 49.1% |
| Hindu | 81.7% | 64.4% |
| Sikh | 80.0% | 70.3% |
| Buddhist | 88.3% | 74.1% |
| Christian | 87.7% | 81.5% |
| Jain | 96.8% | 92.9% |
| All communities | 80.9% | 64.7% |
Computed Reproduce this view. This figure is computed from the linked published tables. Source: Census 2011 · C-series · Census 2001 · C-series. Each value is computed from the data file · transform code; every row records its own source and method.
| Community | Urban | Rural |
|---|---|---|
| Muslim | 76.6% | 63.1% |
| Other | 79.7% | 57.8% |
| Hindu | 85.3% | 68.2% |
| Sikh | 86.5% | 70.9% |
| Buddhist | 87.3% | 76.7% |
| Christian | 92.9% | 78.7% |
| Jain | 96.5% | 88.6% |
| All communities | 84.2% | 67.8% |
Computed Reproduce this view. This figure is computed from the linked published tables. Source: Census 2011 · C-series · Census 2001 · C-series. Each value is computed from the data file · transform code; every row records its own source and method.
Just under 69% of Muslims aged 7 and above could read and write in 2011, the lowest literacy rate among India's larger religious communities and about five points behind Hindus. The gap has been narrowing slowly since 2001, but literacy stays lowest for Muslim women and in rural areas, where barely three in five Muslims are literate.
The main chart tracks literacy for each community across the 2001 and 2011 censuses, with Muslims in maroon and the all-India average as the dashed line; a rising line means literacy is improving. Because the distance between communities is the point, the vertical axis does not start at zero. The tabs break the same measure down further: By state shows how far the Muslim rate swings across India, By sex exposes the wide gap between Muslim men and women, and Urban vs rural shows how much lower literacy runs in Muslim villages than in Muslim towns.
Literacy is the floor every other opportunity stands on. It shapes access to formal jobs, government services and scholarships, and a household's ability to handle paperwork, health information and its own legal rights. A community that starts behind on literacy tends to stay behind on income, formal work and schooling in the generation that follows.
Behindgap narrowing
Muslim 68.6% vs Hindu 73.3% in 2011, 4.7pp behind. The gap has closed by a little over a point since 2001, slow but steady progress, and literacy remains lowest for Muslim women and in rural areas.
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