Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, male (%) by country
Percentage of males 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 male literates aged 65...
What the numbers show
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, male (%) is currently reported for 83 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Uzbekistan; the lowest is 10.0% in Chad.
The median across all reporting countries is 80.9%, and the mean is 73.3%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 10.
Over the past decade 74 countries rose and 7 fell. The largest increase was in Oman (up 147.4%), and the largest decrease in Cote d'Ivoire (down 14.9%).
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, male: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 100.0% | 2018 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 2 | Kazakhstan | 99.4% | 2018 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 3 | Montenegro | 99.3% | 2018 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 4 | Tonga | 99.1% | 2018 | up 0.7% | flat |
| 5 | Moldova | 98.8% | 2014 | up 4.3% | rising |
| 6 | Azerbaijan | 98.7% | 2017 | up 1.0% | flat |
| 7 | Barbados | 98.6% | 2014 | unchanged | flat |
| 8 | Argentina | 98.1% | 2018 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 9 | Greece | 97.7% | 2018 | up 15.3% | rising |
| 10 | Uruguay | 97.3% | 2018 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 11 | Spain | 97.1% | 2018 | up 2.1% | rising |
| 12 | Grenada | 96.6% | 2014 | unchanged | flat |
| 13 | Jordan | 96.5% | 2018 | up 40.8% | rising |
| 14 | Singapore | 95.5% | 2018 | up 4.9% | rising |
| 15 | Albania | 95.0% | 2018 | up 6.4% | flat |
| 16 | Philippines | 94.6% | 2015 | up 5.2% | rising |
| 17 | Vietnam | 94.5% | 2018 | up 3.7% | rising |
| 18 | Turkey | 93.2% | 2017 | up 17.1% | rising |
| 19 | China | 92.8% | 2018 | up 7.9% | rising |
| 20 | Portugal | 92.7% | 2018 | up 6.1% | rising |
| 21 | Palestine | 91.5% | 2018 | up 22.7% | rising |
| 22 | Macao | 91.3% | 2016 | up 13.1% | rising |
| 23 | Maldives | 91.2% | 2016 | down 1.3% | rising |
| 24 | Chile | 90.6% | 2017 | up 3.4% | rising |
| 25 | Peru | 90.6% | 2018 | up 10.6% | rising |
| 26 | Brunei | 90.3% | 2018 | up 11.7% | rising |
| 27 | Venezuela | 89.8% | 2016 | up 11.8% | rising |
| 28 | Kuwait | 88.8% | 2018 | up 17.6% | rising |
| 29 | Malta | 86.4% | 2018 | up 4.1% | rising |
| 30 | Suriname | 86.2% | 2018 | up 5.3% | rising |
| 31 | Malaysia | 85.7% | 2018 | up 14.5% | rising |
| 32 | Thailand | 85.4% | 2015 | up 3.5% | rising |
| 33 | Bahrain | 85.1% | 2018 | up 36.4% | rising |
| 34 | Sri Lanka | 85.1% | 2018 | up 2.2% | flat |
| 35 | Panama | 85.0% | 2018 | up 5.1% | rising |
| 36 | Indonesia | 84.6% | 2018 | up 13.5% | rising |
| 37 | Mexico | 84.5% | 2018 | up 7.6% | rising |
| 38 | Colombia | 83.4% | 2018 | up 6.3% | rising |
| 39 | Bolivia | 82.6% | 2015 | up 8.3% | rising |
| 40 | Sao Tome and Principe | 82.2% | 2018 | up 11.4% | rising |
| 41 | Dominican Republic | 81.9% | 2016 | up 13.5% | rising |
| 42 | Zambia | 80.9% | 2018 | up 21.2% | rising |
| 43 | Qatar | 79.5% | 2017 | up 49.3% | rising |
| 44 | Brazil | 79.3% | 2018 | up 11.5% | rising |
| 45 | Ecuador | 77.3% | 2017 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 46 | Saudi Arabia | 76.9% | 2017 | up 96.2% | rising |
| 47 | Cambodia | 76.9% | 2015 | up 7.8% | rising |
| 48 | Seychelles | 76.4% | 2018 | up 12.6% | rising |
| 49 | Paraguay | 75.9% | 2018 | down 3.4% | rising |
| 50 | Namibia | 75.1% | 2018 | up 62.7% | rising |
| 51 | Laos | 74.6% | 2015 | up 30.5% | rising |
| 52 | El Salvador | 72.1% | 2018 | up 14.8% | rising |
| 53 | Uganda | 65.9% | 2018 | up 25.4% | rising |
| 54 | Honduras | 65.2% | 2018 | up 20.2% | rising |
| 55 | Eswatini | 62.4% | 2018 | up 18.0% | rising |
| 56 | Malawi | 62.2% | 2015 | down 5.9% | rising |
| 57 | India | 61.7% | 2018 | up 19.7% | rising |
| 58 | Guatemala | 60.9% | 2014 | up 30.4% | rising |
| 59 | South Africa | 59.9% | 2017 | down 7.2% | rising |
| 60 | Cameroon | 59.7% | 2018 | up 76.5% | rising |
| 61 | Oman | 59.0% | 2018 | up 147.4% | rising |
| 62 | Tanzania | 58.9% | 2015 | up 37.2% | rising |
| 63 | Vanuatu | 57.9% | 2018 | up 44.8% | rising |
| 64 | Tunisia | 55.8% | 2014 | up 67.0% | rising |
| 65 | Central African Republic | 54.5% | 2018 | down 1.9% | volatile |
| 66 | Bangladesh | 52.5% | 2019 | up 28.5% | rising |
| 67 | Morocco | 51.4% | 2018 | up 68.7% | rising |
| 68 | Rwanda | 50.7% | 2018 | down 4.3% | rising |
| 69 | Mozambique | 50.0% | 2017 | up 30.3% | rising |
| 70 | Iran | 49.9% | 2016 | up 30.4% | rising |
| 71 | Algeria | 47.9% | 2018 | up 59.0% | rising |
| 72 | Burundi | 46.5% | 2017 | up 76.6% | volatile |
| 73 | Senegal | 46.2% | 2017 | up 58.3% | rising |
| 74 | Egypt | 43.2% | 2017 | up 11.6% | rising |
| 75 | Nepal | 41.5% | 2018 | up 16.5% | rising |
| 76 | Nigeria | 40.1% | 2018 | up 33.3% | rising |
| 77 | Togo | 39.3% | 2015 | up 49.7% | rising |
| 78 | Pakistan | 38.1% | 2017 | up 17.9% | rising |
| 79 | Cote d'Ivoire | 30.8% | 2018 | down 14.9% | rising |
| 80 | Mali | 26.7% | 2018 | up 59.0% | rising |
| 81 | Burkina Faso | 19.4% | 2018 | up 84.7% | volatile |
| 82 | Benin | 16.3% | 2018 | up 17.9% | rising |
| 83 | Chad | 10.0% | 2016 | up 108.0% | volatile |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Europe & Central Asia (excluding high income) 98.7%
- Europe & Central Asia (IDA & IBRD countries) 98.4%
- Central Europe and the Baltics 98.2%
- East Asia & Pacific (excluding high income) 92.3%
- East Asia & Pacific (IDA & IBRD countries) 92.2%
- Late-demographic dividend 92.1%
- East Asia & Pacific 91.2%
- Upper middle income 90.5%
- Pacific island small states 87.8%
- Latin America & Caribbean 84.3%
- Latin America & Caribbean (excluding high income) 83.8%
- Latin America & the Caribbean (IDA & IBRD countries) 83.7%
- IBRD only 83.6%
- World 83.4%
- Middle income 80.4%
- Low & middle income 79.0%
- IDA & IBRD total 77.1%
- Small states 76.3%
- Other small states 75.7%
- Caribbean Small States 74.8%
- Early-demographic dividend 66.5%
- Lower middle income 63.1%
- South Asia 59.5%
- South Asia (IDA & IBRD) 59.5%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan 55.7%
- Arab World 52.3%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 52.1%
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) 51.8%
- IDA only 50.9%
- Least developed countries 49.5%
- Sub-Saharan Africa 49.5%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 49.5%
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 49.4%
- Pre-demographic dividend 49.1%
- Low income 48.7%
- Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 48.5%
- IDA total 48.3%
- IDA blend 46.8%
About this data
Percentage of males 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 male literates aged 65 years and over by the corresponding age group population and multiplying the result by 100.