Statizoid

Elderly illiterate population, 65+ years, both sexes (number) by country

Total number of adults over age 65 who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life.

Countries reporting
82
Highest
45.66 million number
India
Lowest
50 number
Tonga
Median
238,326 number
Years covered
50
1970–2019
Data points
2,196

What the numbers show

Elderly illiterate population, 65+ years, both sexes (number) is currently reported for 82 countries. The highest value is 45.66 million number in India; the lowest is 50 number in Tonga.

The median across all reporting countries is 238,326 number, and the mean is 1.51 million number.

Over the past decade 44 countries rose and 38 fell. The largest increase was in Paraguay (up 80.4%), and the largest decrease in Greece (down 77.3%).

Elderly illiterate population, 65+ years, both sexes: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 India 45.66 million number 2018 up 23.4% rising
2 China 23.46 million number 2018 down 18.9% falling
3 Pakistan 6.75 million number 2017 up 22.6% rising
4 Bangladesh 5.16 million number 2019 up 4.0% rising
5 Indonesia 4.05 million number 2018 down 18.4% rising
6 Brazil 4.01 million number 2018 up 4.6% rising
7 Nigeria 3.86 million number 2018 up 16.3% rising
8 Egypt 3.45 million number 2017 up 22.1% rising
9 Iran 2.91 million number 2016 up 18.1% rising
10 Algeria 1.79 million number 2018 up 21.3% rising
11 Mexico 1.77 million number 2018 down 1.3% rising
12 Morocco 1.66 million number 2018 up 5.6% rising
13 Thailand 1.56 million number 2015 up 13.4% rising
14 South Africa 1.35 million number 2017 up 35.2% rising
15 Turkey 1.33 million number 2017 down 36.2% falling
16 Nepal 1.23 million number 2018 up 11.2% rising
17 Vietnam 984,040 number 2018 down 26.2% falling
18 Tanzania 760,646 number 2015 up 12.4% rising
19 Colombia 702,477 number 2018 up 9.2% rising
20 Mozambique 592,436 number 2017 up 4.4% rising
21 Cote d'Ivoire 556,120 number 2018 up 21.5% rising
22 Peru 539,001 number 2018 down 4.1% rising
23 Malaysia 514,298 number 2018 down 9.8% rising
24 Tunisia 513,126 number 2014 down 13.2% rising
25 Uganda 480,705 number 2018 up 23.1% rising
26 Sri Lanka 468,087 number 2018 up 26.3% rising
27 Spain 433,822 number 2018 down 30.0% falling
28 Burkina Faso 427,270 number 2018 up 26.5% rising
29 Cameroon 408,771 number 2018 down 8.8% rising
30 Mali 403,449 number 2018 up 16.9% rising
31 Saudi Arabia 397,215 number 2017 down 22.5% falling
32 Senegal 361,417 number 2017 up 17.7% rising
33 Guatemala 354,530 number 2014 up 19.4% rising
34 Benin 342,958 number 2018 up 41.2% rising
35 Ecuador 312,616 number 2017 up 36.3% rising
36 Cambodia 300,815 number 2015 up 14.1% rising
37 Malawi 290,410 number 2015 up 14.0% rising
38 Philippines 266,943 number 2015 down 6.1% falling
39 Portugal 263,577 number 2018 down 32.9% falling
40 Rwanda 254,335 number 2018 up 49.3% rising
41 Bolivia 240,524 number 2015 up 2.8% rising
42 Venezuela 236,128 number 2016 down 28.7% rising
43 Chile 198,618 number 2017 up 12.8% rising
44 El Salvador 179,271 number 2018 down 7.6% rising
45 Honduras 173,771 number 2018 up 16.4% rising
46 Burundi 166,167 number 2017 up 13.4% rising
47 Togo 161,260 number 2015 up 19.4% rising
48 Zambia 145,002 number 2018 up 0.6% falling
49 Dominican Republic 140,269 number 2016 down 14.3% rising
50 Paraguay 125,315 number 2018 up 80.4% rising
51 Argentina 119,662 number 2018 up 22.7% volatile
52 Laos 109,601 number 2015 down 20.8% flat
53 Greece 109,571 number 2018 down 77.3% falling
54 Central African Republic 88,611 number 2018 down 0.8% flat
55 Singapore 87,695 number 2018 down 3.4% rising
56 Panama 50,949 number 2018 up 8.1% rising
57 Oman 49,876 number 2018 down 20.5% flat
58 Palestine 40,500 number 2018 down 19.5% rising
59 Jordan 35,628 number 2018 down 69.1% rising
60 Albania 26,323 number 2018 down 53.7% rising
61 Kuwait 25,714 number 2018 up 14.2% rising
62 Eswatini 20,108 number 2018 down 6.9% rising
63 Namibia 13,034 number 2018 down 71.1% falling
64 Moldova 11,576 number 2014 down 73.5% volatile
65 Uruguay 11,122 number 2018 down 38.7% falling
66 Bahrain 10,853 number 2018 down 3.7% rising
67 Macao 10,572 number 2016 down 24.4% rising
68 Malta 10,539 number 2018 up 4.7% falling
69 Qatar 9,622 number 2017 up 58.9% rising
70 Azerbaijan 8,936 number 2017 down 64.8% volatile
71 Suriname 7,553 number 2018 down 14.9% falling
72 Kazakhstan 6,829 number 2018 down 53.3% volatile
73 Vanuatu 5,232 number 2018 up 18.1% rising
74 Brunei 4,553 number 2018 down 12.8% rising
75 Montenegro 2,959 number 2018 down 40.7% volatile
76 Sao Tome and Principe 2,568 number 2018 down 14.1% falling
77 Maldives 1,798 number 2016 up 53.7% rising
78 Uzbekistan 1,609 number 2018 up 44.2% volatile
79 Seychelles 1,549 number 2018 down 21.5% falling
80 Barbados 595 number 2014 up 19.7% rising
81 Grenada 392 number 2014 up 14.0% rising
82 Tonga 50 number 2018 down 58.3% falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

About this data

Indicator
Elderly illiterate population, 65+ years, both sexes (number)
Unit
number
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
120 places, 2,196 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Total number of adults over age 65 who cannot both read and write with understanding a short simple statement on their everyday life.