For the purpose of census 2001, a person aged seven and above, who can both read and write with understanding in any language, is treated as literate. A person, who can only read but cannot write, is not literate. In the censuses prior to 1991, children below five years of age were necessarily treated as illiterates.

The provisional results of 2001 reveal that there has been an increase in literacy in the country. The literacy rate in the country is 64.84 per cent, 75.26 for males and 53.67 for females.

Kerala retained its position by being on top with a 90.86 per cent literacy rate, closely followed by Mizoram (88.80 per cent) and Lakshadweep (86.66 per cent). Bihar with a literacy rate of 47.00 per cent ranks last in the country, preceded by Jharkhand (53.56 per cent), and Jammu and Kashmir (55.52 per cent). Kerala also occupies the top spot in the country, both in male literacy with 94.24 per cent, and female literacy with 87.72 per cent. On the contrary, Bihar has recorded the lowest literacy rates, both in case of males (59.68 per cent), and females (33.12 per cent).