Bihar has a total literacy rate of 70.9% in 2017. Overall Male and Female literacy rate is 79.7% and 60.5% respectively. Total Rural literacy rate is 69.5%. In rural areas of Bihar, Male and Female literacy rate is 78.6% and 58.7% respectively. Total Urban literacy rate is 83.1%. In urban areas of Bihar, Male and Female literacy rate is 89.3% and 75.9% respectively. Total number of literates in Bihar is 3,16,75,607 which consists 2,09,78,955 Male and 1,06,96,652 Female. Patna has highest Literacy Rate of 87.82% followed by Rohtas (80.36%) and Munger (78.11%). Kishanganj has lowest Literacy Rate of 61.05% followed by Araria (64.95%) and Katihar (65.46%). A recent survey by Pratham rated the receptivity of Bihari children to their teaching as being better than those in other states. Bihar is striving to increase female literacy, now at 60.5%. At the time of independence, women's literacy in Bihar was 4.22%.
Overview of literacy rates
Literacy rates in Bihar1| Total | Males | Females | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Literacy rate | 70.9%2 | 79.7% | 60.5% |
| Rural areas3 | 69.5% | 78.6% | 58.7% |
| Urban areas4 | 83.1% | 89.3% | 75.9% |
| Total numbers of literates | 3,16,75,607 | 2,09,78,955 | 1,06,96,652 |
| District | Literacy rate |
|---|---|
| Rohtas | 73.37% |
| Bhojpur | 72.79% |
| Patna | 70.68% |
| ||| | |
| Katihar | 52.24% |
| Purnea | 51.18% |
| Sitamarhi | 51.08% |
A recent survey by Pratham rated the receptivity of Bihari children to their teaching as being better than those in other states. Bihar is striving to increase female literacy, now at 60.55%. At the time of independence, women's literacy in Bihar was 4.22%.
The state's low literary rates stem from the region's complex educational challenges. Education in Bihar significantly lags behind other states in India.
Growth in Literacy Rate
Literacy Rate from 1951–20256| Year | Total | Males | Females |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | 13.45 | 22.68 | 4.20 |
| 1961 | 21.98 | 35.85 | 8.11 |
| 1971 | 22.86 | 35.86 | 9.86 |
| 1981 | 31.86 | 47.11 | 16.61 |
| 1991 | 36.68 | 51.37 | 21.99 |
| 2001 | 46.94 | 60.32 | 33.57 |
| 2011 | 61.35 | 71.20 | 51.50 |
| 20177 | 70.90 | 79.70 | 60.50 |
| 2025 | 74.30 | — | — |
Anubhav
Education in Bihar8| Level | Total | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literate with education | 17,15,049 | 11,09,731 | 6,05,318 |
| Below Primary | 78,90,329 | 47,54,137 | 31,36,192 |
| Primary | 83,34,709 | 51,30,917 | 32,03,792 |
| Middle | 43,90,226 | 30,12,151 | 13,78,075 |
| Secondary | 47,51,560 | 34,39,918 | 13,11,642 |
| Higher Secondary | 18,26,093 | 13,85,282 | 4,40,811 |
| Technical Diploma | 24,989 | 20,088 | 4,901 |
| Non-technical Diploma | 48,532 | 40,458 | 8,074 |
| Graduate & above | 21,09,415 | 17,37,651 | 3,71,764 |
| Unclassified | 18,675 | 14,043 | 4,632 |
Literacy in Districts
Literacy in Bihar9| Districts of Bihar | 2011 | 2001 | 1991 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | By gender | Total | By gender | Total | By gender | ||||
| Male | Female | Male | Female | Male | Female | ||||
| West Champaran | 55.7 | 39.63 | 51.91 | 25.85 | 27.99 | 39.62 | 14.41 | ||
| East Champaran | 55.79 | 42.74 | 67.90 | 74.47 | 44.41 | 58.49 | 85.45 | ||
| Sheohar | 53.78 | 37.01 | 45.54 | 27.43 | 26.18 | 36.36 | 14.34 | ||
| Sitamarhi | 52.05 | 39.38 | 51.02 | 26.35 | 28.49 | 39.86 | 15.49 | ||
| Madhubani | 58.62 | 42.35 | 57.26 | 26.56 | 33.22 | 48.49 | 16.75 | ||
| Supaul | 57.67 | 37.8 | 53.23 | 21.02 | 28.11 | 40.96 | 13.74 | ||
| Araria | 53.53 | 34.94 | 46.5 | 22.14 | 26.19 | 36.99 | 14.01 | ||
| Kishanganj | 55.46 | 31.02 | 42.8 | 18.49 | 22.22 | 33.12 | 10.38 | ||
| Purnia | 51.08 | 35.51 | 46.16 | 23.72 | 28.52 | 38.92 | 16.8 | ||
| Katihar | 52.24 | 35.29 | 45.51 | 24.03 | 28.7 | 39.24 | 16.88 | ||
| Madhepura | 52.25 | 36.19 | 48.87 | 22.31 | 27.72 | 39.31 | 14.41 | ||
| Saharsa | 53.2 | 39.28 | 52.04 | 25.31 | 29.98 | 42.37 | 15.83 | ||
| Darbhanga | 56.56 | 44.32 | 54.15 | 45.35 | 35.94 | 48.31 | 20.09 | ||
| Muzaffarpur | 63.43 | 48.15 | 82.19 | 87.2 | 74.11 | 48.44 | 22.33 | ||
| Gopalganj | 65.47 | 48.19 | 63.81 | 32.81 | 34.96 | 51.62 | 17.75 | ||
| Siwan district | 69.45 | 52.01 | 67.67 | 37.26 | 39.13 | 57.51 | 21.33 | ||
| Saran | 65.96 | 52.01 | 67.81 | 35.74 | 41.79 | 60.18 | 22.71 | ||
| Vaishali | 66.66 | 51.63 | 64 | 38.14 | 40.56 | 55.62 | 24.08 | ||
| Samastipur | 61.86 | 69.76 | 80.83 | 90.69 | 60.37 | 76.39 | 85.17 | ||
| Begusarai | 63.87 | 48.55 | 59.71 | 36.21 | 36.88 | 48.66 | 23.52 | ||
| Khagaria | 57.92 | 41.56 | 52.02 | 29.62 | 32.33 | 42.97 | 19.79 | ||
| Bhagalpur | 63.14 | 50.28 | 60.11 | 38.83 | 41.84 | 53.41 | 28.11 | ||
| Banka | 58.17 | 43.4 | 56.28 | 29.1 | 34.55 | 48.17 | 18.99 | ||
| Munger | 70.46 | 60.11 | 70.68 | 47.97 | 52.25 | 64.95 | 37.07 | ||
| Lakhisarai | 62.42 | 48.21 | 60.97 | 34.26 | 39.4 | 53.12 | 23.48 | ||
| Sheikhpura | 63.86 | 49.01 | 62.56 | 34.13 | 40.92 | 55.43 | 24.41 | ||
| Nalanda | 64.43 | 53.64 | 66.94 | 39.03 | 46.95 | 61.95 | 29.97 | ||
| Patna | 70.68 | 63.82 | 73.81 | 52.17 | 56.33 | 69.07 | 41.35 | ||
| Bhojpur | 70.47 | 59.71 | 74.78 | 42.81 | 48.18 | 66.35 | 27.95 | ||
| Buxar | 70.14 | 57.49 | 72.82 | 40.36 | 33.49 | 62.94 | 25.74 | ||
| Kaimur | 69.34 | 55.57 | 70.57 | 38.9 | 39.35 | 55.68 | 20.69 | ||
| Rohtas | 73.37 | 62.36 | 76.54 | 46.62 | 48.52 | 64.5 | 30.29 | ||
| Jehanabad | 66.8 | 56.03 | 70.9 | 40.08 | 45.83 | 63.11 | 26.81 | ||
| Aurangabad | 70.32 | 57.5 | 71.99 | 42.04 | 45.14 | 61.8 | 26.67 | ||
| Gaya | 63.67 | 61.07 | 73.81 | 47.4 | 50.47 | 65.22 | 34.2 | ||
| Nawada | 59.76 | 47.36 | 61.22 | 32.64 | 38.96 | 54.85 | 21.82 | ||
| Jamui | 59.79 | 42.74 | 57.1 | 26.92 | 33.41 | 48.48 | 16.41 | ||
Key data
- Literacy
- In Absolute Numbers - 5,96,75,607
- Percentage of Total Population - 70.90%
- Percentage of Urban Population - 83.1%
- Percentage of Rural Population - 69.5%
- Highest Literacy Rate
- Rohtas - 75.59%
- Lowest Literacy Rate
- Purnia, 52.49%
See also
External links
References
"NSC Report 2017-18 List of Indian States and UT by literacy rate" (PDF). 2017–18. https://www.thehinducentre.com/resources/article30980071.ece/binary/KI_Education_75th_Final_compressed.pdf#page=68 ↩
"Times of India Literacy rate of Bihar 2023". The Times of India. 8 November 2023. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/patna/18-increase-in-literacy-rate-in-over-one-decade/articleshow/105054963.cms ↩
"NSC Report 2017-18 List of Indian States and UT by literacy rate" (PDF). 2017–18. https://www.thehinducentre.com/resources/article30980071.ece/binary/KI_Education_75th_Final_compressed.pdf#page=68 ↩
"NSC Report 2017-18 List of Indian States and UT by literacy rate" (PDF). 2017–18. https://www.thehinducentre.com/resources/article30980071.ece/binary/KI_Education_75th_Final_compressed.pdf#page=68 ↩
"NSC Report 2017-18 List of Indian States and UT by literacy rate" (PDF). 2017–18. https://www.thehinducentre.com/resources/article30980071.ece/binary/KI_Education_75th_Final_compressed.pdf#page=68 ↩
"Census Statistics for Bihar". Archived from the original on 2008-05-24. Retrieved 2008-10-03. https://web.archive.org/web/20080524094302/http://gov.bih.nic.in/Profile/CensusStats-03.htm ↩
"NSC Report 2017-18 List of Indian States and UT by literacy rate" (PDF). 2017–18. https://www.thehinducentre.com/resources/article30980071.ece/binary/KI_Education_75th_Final_compressed.pdf#page=68 ↩
"Census of India - Literates and educational level". http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_data_finder/C_Series/Literates_and_educational_level.htm ↩
http://gov.bih.nic.in/Profile/CensusStats-03.htm Archived 2008-05-24 at the Wayback Machine Literacy in Bihar http://gov.bih.nic.in/Profile/CensusStats-03.htm ↩