Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, rural, male (%) by country
Percentage of males 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 male...
What the numbers show
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, rural, male (%) is currently reported for 35 countries. The highest value is 98.6% in Republic of Moldova; the lowest is 8.6% in Burkina Faso.
The median across all reporting countries is 68.6%, and the mean is 63.3%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 11.
Over the past decade 31 countries rose and 4 fell. The largest increase was in Morocco (up 151.2%), and the largest decrease in South Africa (down 52.2%).
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, rural, male: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Republic of Moldova | 98.6% | 2014 | up 5.7% | rising |
| 2 | Azerbaijan | 98.2% | 2017 | up 2.0% | flat |
| 3 | Spain | 96.3% | 2018 | up 3.5% | flat |
| 4 | Greece | 94.7% | 2011 | up 2.9% | flat |
| 5 | Uruguay | 93.5% | 2018 | up 3.9% | rising |
| 6 | State of Palestine | 91.0% | 2018 | up 28.3% | rising |
| 7 | Türkiye | 88.9% | 2015 | up 21.6% | rising |
| 8 | Kuwait | 86.8% | 2018 | up 18.2% | rising |
| 9 | Sri Lanka | 83.5% | 2018 | up 1.4% | flat |
| 10 | Thailand | 82.5% | 2015 | up 2.9% | rising |
| 11 | Indonesia | 78.9% | 2018 | up 14.8% | rising |
| 12 | Chile | 77.7% | 2017 | up 0.9% | rising |
| 13 | Peru | 76.0% | 2018 | up 12.7% | rising |
| 14 | Malaysia | 75.8% | 2018 | up 20.9% | rising |
| 15 | Cambodia | 73.6% | 2015 | up 5.1% | flat |
| 16 | Dominican Republic | 72.0% | 2016 | up 22.8% | rising |
| 17 | Bolivia (Plurinational State of) | 70.9% | 2015 | up 15.6% | rising |
| 18 | Paraguay | 68.6% | 2018 | down 1.8% | falling |
| 19 | Mexico | 68.0% | 2018 | up 10.2% | rising |
| 20 | Colombia | 67.4% | 2018 | up 8.6% | rising |
| 21 | Ecuador | 59.2% | 2017 | down 1.4% | rising |
| 22 | El Salvador | 57.5% | 2017 | up 40.6% | rising |
| 23 | Brazil | 56.8% | 2018 | up 22.0% | rising |
| 24 | Uganda | 56.4% | 2012 | up 28.9% | rising |
| 25 | Honduras | 51.0% | 2018 | up 20.1% | rising |
| 26 | Bangladesh | 43.4% | 2019 | up 23.0% | rising |
| 27 | Guatemala | 41.0% | 2014 | up 40.4% | rising |
| 28 | Senegal | 36.8% | 2017 | up 89.5% | rising |
| 29 | Morocco | 34.2% | 2012 | up 151.2% | volatile |
| 30 | Pakistan | 30.8% | 2017 | up 22.4% | rising |
| 31 | Egypt | 27.5% | 2017 | down 16.3% | rising |
| 32 | South Africa | 26.1% | 2017 | down 52.2% | rising |
| 33 | Iran (Islamic Republic of) | 23.7% | 2016 | up 25.7% | rising |
| 34 | Mali | 20.2% | 2018 | up 105.7% | rising |
| 35 | Burkina Faso | 8.6% | 2014 | up 72.4% | rising |
About this data
Percentage of males 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 male 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/