Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, rural, female (%) by country
Percentage of females age 65 and above in rural areas 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...
What the numbers show
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, rural, female (%) is currently reported for 35 countries. The highest value is 98.9% in Azerbaijan, Republic of; the lowest is 0.7% in Burkina Faso.
The median across all reporting countries is 52.5%, and the mean is 45.7%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 149.
Over the past decade 33 countries rose and 2 fell. The largest increase was in Morocco (up 439.8%), and the largest decrease in South Africa (down 48.6%).
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, rural, female: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Azerbaijan, Republic of | 98.9% | 2017 | up 9.1% | rising |
| 2 | Uruguay | 96.3% | 2018 | up 1.2% | rising |
| 3 | Moldova, Republic of | 95.3% | 2014 | up 14.8% | rising |
| 4 | Spain | 92.2% | 2018 | up 5.8% | rising |
| 5 | Greece | 81.5% | 2011 | up 13.6% | rising |
| 6 | Chile | 78.1% | 2017 | up 11.4% | rising |
| 7 | Sri Lanka | 72.4% | 2018 | up 11.5% | rising |
| 8 | Dominican Republic | 71.5% | 2016 | up 37.2% | rising |
| 9 | Thailand | 68.7% | 2015 | up 12.5% | rising |
| 10 | Colombia | 66.6% | 2018 | up 22.2% | rising |
| 11 | Kuwait | 62.9% | 2018 | up 36.1% | rising |
| 12 | Türkiye | 60.5% | 2015 | up 133.3% | rising |
| 13 | Indonesia | 56.5% | 2018 | up 59.5% | rising |
| 14 | Ecuador | 55.5% | 2017 | up 34.3% | rising |
| 15 | Mexico | 55.4% | 2018 | up 32.0% | rising |
| 16 | Paraguay | 54.9% | 2018 | down 14.6% | falling |
| 17 | Brazil | 53.8% | 2018 | up 27.8% | rising |
| 18 | Malaysia | 52.5% | 2018 | up 65.8% | rising |
| 19 | Palestine | 46.6% | 2018 | up 112.9% | rising |
| 20 | Honduras | 40.6% | 2018 | up 26.1% | rising |
| 21 | El Salvador | 40.0% | 2017 | up 47.3% | rising |
| 22 | Cambodia | 32.6% | 2015 | up 135.8% | rising |
| 23 | Peru | 32.5% | 2018 | up 55.6% | rising |
| 24 | Bolivia | 31.6% | 2015 | up 46.2% | rising |
| 25 | South Africa | 22.4% | 2017 | down 48.6% | rising |
| 26 | Guatemala | 18.8% | 2014 | up 32.6% | rising |
| 27 | Bangladesh | 17.3% | 2019 | up 17.8% | rising |
| 28 | Uganda | 15.2% | 2012 | up 7.5% | rising |
| 29 | Egypt, Arab Republic of | 7.2% | 2017 | up 81.3% | rising |
| 30 | Iran, Islamic Republic of | 4.5% | 2016 | up 20.0% | rising |
| 31 | Senegal | 4.5% | 2017 | up 67.4% | rising |
| 32 | Morocco | 4.4% | 2012 | up 439.8% | volatile |
| 33 | Mali | 4.4% | 2018 | up 195.2% | volatile |
| 34 | Pakistan | 2.9% | 2017 | up 24.2% | falling |
| 35 | Burkina Faso | 0.7% | 2014 | up 52.4% | volatile |
About this data
Percentage of females age 65 and above in rural areas 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. For more information, consult the UNESCO Institute of Statistics website: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/