Education Higher is better

Literacy Rate

Percentage of population aged 7+ years who can both read and write with understanding in any language. Census figures (2001, 2011) are a complete enumeration; the 2024 point is a PLFS sample-survey estimate, shown as a separate series.

Tamil Nadu's literacy is 85.5% % (2024), per National Statistical Office (NSO), MoSPI.

Tamil Nadu, latest

85.5%

2024

Last verified 2026-06-30

Change

+16.3%

2001 → 2024

Rank vs compared states

#2 of 5

TN vs MH, KA, GJ, UP · higher is better

Tamil Nadu's Literacy is 85.5% (2024), up +16.3% since 2001. It ranks #2 of 5 compared states (higher is better).

Read this number carefully

The latest year (2024) is from a different source (National Statistical Office (NSO), MoSPI) spliced onto the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner series; treat the most recent change cautiously.
Series break at 2021: Census 2021 deferred; no fresh decennial estimate available. Values before and after are not directly comparable.

Source Official National Statistical Office (NSO), MoSPI Coverage 2001 – 2024 Sources & methodology ↓

About this indicator

This is the share of people aged seven and above who can read and write with understanding, the most basic measure of educational reach across a population. It is a low-bar, self-reported or survey-based measure, so it signals foundational reach rather than functional skill or numeracy. Because it counts everyone above age seven, the headline rate changes slowly and lags improvements that show up first among younger, newly schooled cohorts.

Literacy · 2001 – 2024

Tamil Nadu's Literacy rose from 73.5% (2001) to 85.5% (2024).

Source: National Statistical Office (NSO), MoSPI

Compare with Maharashtra, Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh

1 MH Maharashtra 87.3% 2024
2 TN Tamil Nadu 85.5% 2024
3 GJ Gujarat 84.6% 2024
4 KA Karnataka 82.7% 2024
5 UP Uttar Pradesh 78.2% 2024

Tamil Nadu highlighted. Each row shows that state's value and the year it is from. Compare like years with care.

Where this data comes from

The provenance of every value above and how to cite it.

Source provenance

Observations come from 2 distinct sources, segmented below by period.

Click any segment to open the source publication and verify the values yourself.

Methodology & notes

Census definition: a person aged 7+ who can both read and write with understanding in any language. With Census 2021 deferred, the most recent estimate is from PLFS 2023-24 (Appendix-A Table 7, persons 7+), a self-reported sample survey. It is not comparable to the Census complete count and is flagged as a series break.

Known series breaks

2021: Census 2021 deferred; no fresh decennial estimate available
2024: PLFS sample-survey estimate, not comparable to Census complete enumeration

Alternate sources tracked

· National Statistical Office (NSO), MoSPI (Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Annual Report)
· International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), MoHFW (National Family Health Survey, Round 5 (2019–21))