本研究主要目的在瞭解一九八０、一九九０年及一九九五年，開發中國家，文盲、人口成長與國民所得之間的關係。本研究假設是在開發中國家，當國民所得愈高，文盲率則愈低；人口成長率與文盲率呈現正相關。研究結果顯示，在一九八０年、一九九０年及一九九五年等三個年代，在前述假設得到證實，本研究更探究開發中國家，男女性別文盲率與國民所得及人口成長間的關係，研究顯示，除一九八０年，女性文盲無法得到證實，二個年代的資料均有證實。二千年時，開發中國家仍約有八億七千五百萬名的文盲，其中有三分之二是女性。為此，開發中國家除進一步的普及教育，也採取多種的掃盲措施。

The purpose of this study is to understand illiteracy in developing countries in 1980, 1990, and 1995. The hypothesis is that the higher the per capita income in developing countries, the lower the number of illiterate in developing countries, and the higher the rate of annual population growth in developing countries, the higher the rate of illiteracy in a developing country. The hypothesis is proved. This study also uses the same index to test the gender differences in developing countries. Except for females in 1980, the results in 1990 and 1995 show significant relationships among the rate of illiteracy, per capita income, and the rate of population growth. In 2000, there were about 880 million illiterate people in developing countries. Many developing countries provide educational reforms to improve the problem of illiteracy.