Statizoid

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

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

Countries reporting
82
Highest
30.25 million number
India
Lowest
25 number
Tonga
Median
153,066 number
Years covered
50
1970–2019
Data points
2,221

What the numbers show

Elderly illiterate population, 65+ years, female (number) is currently reported for 82 countries. The highest value is 30.25 million number in India; the lowest is 25 number in Tonga.

The median across all reporting countries is 153,066 number, and the mean is 1.02 million number.

Over the past decade 44 countries rose and 38 fell. The largest increase was in Uzbekistan (up 247.1%), and the largest decrease in Namibia (down 83.2%).

Elderly illiterate population, 65+ years, female: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 India 30.25 million number 2018 up 25.8% rising
2 China 18.20 million number 2018 down 15.6% falling
3 Pakistan 3.91 million number 2017 up 29.3% rising
4 Bangladesh 3.14 million number 2019 up 4.9% rising
5 Indonesia 2.95 million number 2018 down 18.8% rising
6 Brazil 2.35 million number 2018 up 2.8% rising
7 Nigeria 2.33 million number 2018 up 19.8% rising
8 Egypt 2.19 million number 2017 up 19.5% rising
9 Iran 1.66 million number 2016 up 21.5% rising
10 Turkey 1.14 million number 2017 down 31.2% rising
11 Mexico 1.13 million number 2018 down 2.2% rising
12 Algeria 1.10 million number 2018 up 27.3% rising
13 Thailand 1.09 million number 2015 up 11.7% rising
14 Morocco 1.09 million number 2018 up 10.3% rising
15 South Africa 874,905 number 2017 up 32.5% rising
16 Vietnam 834,804 number 2018 down 26.8% falling
17 Nepal 799,830 number 2018 up 19.5% rising
18 Tanzania 538,081 number 2015 up 17.7% rising
19 Mozambique 435,883 number 2017 up 9.2% rising
20 Peru 425,601 number 2018 down 0.3% rising
21 Colombia 393,029 number 2018 up 3.4% rising
22 Uganda 368,379 number 2018 up 27.7% rising
23 Malaysia 367,473 number 2018 down 8.0% rising
24 Tunisia 346,148 number 2014 down 2.4% rising
25 Sri Lanka 327,358 number 2018 up 23.7% rising
26 Spain 321,347 number 2018 down 30.2% falling
27 Cote d'Ivoire 294,391 number 2018 up 16.6% rising
28 Cameroon 285,451 number 2018 down 0.4% rising
29 Burkina Faso 276,671 number 2018 up 30.3% rising
30 Saudi Arabia 266,969 number 2017 down 11.7% flat
31 Senegal 253,513 number 2017 up 32.8% rising
32 Mali 249,336 number 2018 up 24.3% rising
33 Cambodia 241,423 number 2015 up 14.8% rising
34 Guatemala 229,872 number 2014 up 32.9% rising
35 Malawi 223,690 number 2015 up 10.5% rising
36 Benin 210,482 number 2018 up 39.7% rising
37 Portugal 195,051 number 2018 down 32.0% falling
38 Ecuador 190,088 number 2017 up 31.6% rising
39 Bolivia 181,245 number 2015 up 4.8% rising
40 Rwanda 180,978 number 2018 up 51.2% rising
41 Philippines 160,004 number 2015 down 2.4% falling
42 Venezuela 146,129 number 2016 down 29.1% rising
43 Zambia 117,811 number 2018 up 8.4% rising
44 El Salvador 116,819 number 2018 down 6.4% rising
45 Chile 115,708 number 2017 up 16.8% rising
46 Burundi 111,089 number 2017 up 22.3% rising
47 Togo 104,256 number 2015 up 27.9% rising
48 Honduras 103,305 number 2018 up 19.6% rising
49 Greece 86,486 number 2018 down 74.7% falling
50 Argentina 82,321 number 2018 up 26.5% falling
51 Laos 81,275 number 2015 down 17.8% flat
52 Dominican Republic 80,932 number 2016 down 13.4% rising
53 Paraguay 73,725 number 2018 up 90.3% rising
54 Singapore 73,697 number 2018 down 3.1% rising
55 Central African Republic 64,785 number 2018 down 1.2% rising
56 Palestine 34,368 number 2018 down 9.9% rising
57 Jordan 29,256 number 2018 down 64.2% rising
58 Panama 27,358 number 2018 up 10.0% rising
59 Oman 27,098 number 2018 down 17.7% flat
60 Kuwait 18,510 number 2018 up 26.0% rising
61 Albania 16,828 number 2018 down 59.6% rising
62 Eswatini 13,932 number 2018 down 7.1% rising
63 Moldova 9,809 number 2014 down 72.3% volatile
64 Macao 8,267 number 2016 down 26.0% rising
65 Bahrain 7,814 number 2018 up 19.7% rising
66 Azerbaijan 5,738 number 2017 down 71.4% volatile
67 Uruguay 5,723 number 2018 down 42.9% volatile
68 Suriname 5,239 number 2018 down 17.8% falling
69 Malta 5,044 number 2018 down 17.1% falling
70 Qatar 4,958 number 2017 up 80.3% rising
71 Namibia 4,779 number 2018 down 83.2% falling
72 Kazakhstan 4,183 number 2018 down 64.8% volatile
73 Brunei 3,567 number 2018 down 9.4% rising
74 Vanuatu 2,894 number 2018 up 26.9% rising
75 Montenegro 2,681 number 2018 down 41.5% volatile
76 Sao Tome and Principe 2,093 number 2018 down 12.5% flat
77 Uzbekistan 1,607 number 2018 up 247.1% volatile
78 Maldives 950 number 2016 up 74.3% rising
79 Seychelles 804 number 2018 down 25.1% falling
80 Barbados 349 number 2014 up 16.3% rising
81 Grenada 232 number 2014 up 11.5% rising
82 Tonga 25 number 2018 down 68.4% 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, female (number)
Unit
number
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
121 places, 2,221 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

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