Statizoid

Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female (%) by country

Percentage of females age 65 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of female literates aged 65...

Countries reporting
82
Highest
99.8%
Uzbekistan
Lowest
2.3%
Benin
Median
63.9%
Years covered
50
1970–2019
Data points
2,197

What the numbers show

Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female (%) is currently reported for 82 countries. The highest value is 99.8% in Uzbekistan; the lowest is 2.3% in Benin.

The median across all reporting countries is 63.9%, and the mean is 57.6%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 44.

Over the past decade 72 countries rose and 8 fell. The largest increase was in Oman (up 911.5%), and the largest decrease in Rwanda (down 26.7%).

Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Uzbekistan 99.8% 2018 down 0.1% rising
2 Kazakhstan 99.5% 2018 up 1.2% rising
3 Tonga 99.3% 2018 up 1.6% flat
4 Barbados 98.5% 2014 unchanged flat
5 Azerbaijan 98.3% 2017 up 4.8% rising
6 Uruguay 98.2% 2018 up 1.8% rising
7 Argentina 97.2% 2018 down 0.2% rising
8 Moldova 96.1% 2014 up 11.4% rising
9 Grenada 96.0% 2014 unchanged flat
10 Montenegro 95.0% 2018 up 5.2% rising
11 Philippines 94.1% 2015 up 4.6% rising
12 Spain 93.7% 2018 up 4.5% rising
13 Greece 93.2% 2018 up 33.2% rising
14 Albania 91.8% 2018 up 27.2% flat
15 Namibia 91.4% 2018 up 126.9% rising
16 Chile 90.2% 2017 up 1.7% rising
17 Malta 89.7% 2018 up 10.8% rising
18 Maldives 89.1% 2016 down 2.7% rising
19 Venezuela 86.7% 2016 up 17.8% rising
20 Jordan 85.6% 2018 up 239.7% volatile
21 Portugal 85.1% 2018 up 12.7% rising
22 Panama 84.9% 2018 up 5.0% rising
23 Colombia 83.2% 2018 up 10.5% rising
24 Seychelles 81.0% 2018 up 9.5% rising
25 Vietnam 80.3% 2018 up 19.1% rising
26 Singapore 78.9% 2018 up 23.9% rising
27 Dominican Republic 78.0% 2016 up 19.7% rising
28 China 78.0% 2018 up 24.5% volatile
29 Brazil 77.9% 2018 up 15.2% rising
30 Mexico 77.4% 2018 up 14.0% rising
31 Suriname 77.3% 2018 up 21.2% rising
32 Sri Lanka 74.4% 2018 up 11.7% rising
33 Thailand 73.3% 2015 up 12.6% rising
34 Macao 72.1% 2016 up 62.6% rising
35 Turkey 70.4% 2017 up 84.7% rising
36 Ecuador 69.7% 2017 up 4.7% rising
37 Peru 69.2% 2018 up 33.2% rising
38 Paraguay 68.4% 2018 down 10.1% rising
39 Brunei 66.8% 2018 up 52.6% volatile
40 Malaysia 65.9% 2018 up 49.9% volatile
41 Indonesia 65.6% 2018 up 50.1% rising
42 El Salvador 62.1% 2018 up 35.5% rising
43 Honduras 58.2% 2018 up 22.5% rising
44 Palestine 57.2% 2018 up 87.7% rising
45 Bahrain 55.7% 2018 up 10.3% volatile
46 Kuwait 55.1% 2018 up 49.6% volatile
47 Oman 54.9% 2018 up 911.5% volatile
48 Qatar 54.3% 2017 up 19.5% rising
49 Bolivia 54.0% 2015 up 29.0% rising
50 Eswatini 52.3% 2018 up 30.5% volatile
51 South Africa 51.2% 2017 down 0.3% rising
52 Zambia 46.9% 2018 up 34.1% volatile
53 Saudi Arabia 46.3% 2017 up 316.4% volatile
54 Laos 44.7% 2015 up 177.9% volatile
55 Vanuatu 43.2% 2018 up 67.5% rising
56 Guatemala 40.7% 2014 up 17.6% rising
57 Sao Tome and Principe 40.3% 2018 up 73.9% rising
58 Cambodia 36.9% 2015 up 135.3% rising
59 India 30.3% 2018 up 65.5% rising
60 Tanzania 29.7% 2015 up 114.6% rising
61 Uganda 26.3% 2018 up 67.0% rising
62 Cameroon 25.3% 2018 up 238.1% volatile
63 Bangladesh 25.0% 2019 up 550.3% rising
64 Iran 24.9% 2016 up 54.3% rising
65 Tunisia 24.4% 2014 up 326.7% volatile
66 Egypt 21.2% 2017 up 53.6% volatile
67 Algeria 19.7% 2018 up 115.8% volatile
68 Morocco 19.0% 2018 up 213.9% volatile
69 Central African Republic 18.5% 2018 up 7.1% volatile
70 Nigeria 17.6% 2018 up 59.4% volatile
71 Burundi 17.0% 2017 up 29.3% volatile
72 Mozambique 15.8% 2017 up 145.4% volatile
73 Malawi 15.6% 2015 up 22.7% rising
74 Rwanda 14.9% 2018 down 26.7% volatile
75 Cote d'Ivoire 13.0% 2018 down 4.3% volatile
76 Pakistan 10.7% 2017 up 18.8% rising
77 Nepal 8.7% 2018 up 43.6% rising
78 Senegal 7.3% 2017 up 25.7% rising
79 Mali 6.9% 2018 up 81.2% volatile
80 Togo 6.3% 2015 down 1.8% rising
81 Burkina Faso 4.1% 2018 up 0.9% volatile
82 Benin 2.3% 2018 up 9.4% rising

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 literacy rate, population 65+ years, female (%)
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
121 places, 2,197 data points, 1970–2019
Last refreshed

Percentage of females age 65 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life. Generally, ‘literacy’ also encompasses ‘numeracy’, the ability to make simple arithmetic calculations. This indicator is calculated by dividing the number of female literates aged 65 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.