Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, both sexes (%) by country
February 2026 Data Release
Countries reporting
85
Highest
100.0%
Uzbekistan
Lowest
5.8%
Sierra Leone
Median
76.1%
Years covered
55
1970–2024
Data points
9,550
What the numbers show
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, both sexes (%) is currently reported for 85 countries. The highest value is 100.0% in Uzbekistan; the lowest is 5.8% in Sierra Leone.
The median across all reporting countries is 76.1%, and the mean is 64.4%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 17.
Over the past decade 73 countries rose and 10 fell. The largest increase was in Chad (up 316.7%), and the largest decrease in Sierra Leone (down 57.7%).
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, both sexes: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 100.0% | 2022 | up 0.1% | rising |
| 2 | Armenia | 99.9% | 2023 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 3 | Georgia | 99.5% | 2024 | up 0.4% | flat |
| 4 | Tonga | 99.5% | 2023 | up 0.6% | falling |
| 5 | Azerbaijan | 99.2% | 2023 | up 1.0% | rising |
| 6 | Spain | 99.1% | 2021 | up 6.8% | rising |
| 7 | Mongolia | 99.0% | 2024 | up 4.6% | rising |
| 8 | Serbia | 98.7% | 2022 | up 6.3% | rising |
| 9 | Montenegro | 98.4% | 2018 | up 4.7% | rising |
| 10 | Uruguay | 98.3% | 2024 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 11 | Philippines | 95.7% | 2020 | up 4.1% | rising |
| 12 | Qatar | 94.8% | 2024 | up 20.1% | rising |
| 13 | Albania | 94.6% | 2023 | up 8.8% | rising |
| 14 | Maldives | 93.6% | 2019 | up 1.7% | rising |
| 15 | Chile | 91.7% | 2022 | up 3.0% | rising |
| 16 | Samoa | 90.2% | 2019 | down 6.3% | flat |
| 17 | Panama | 90.1% | 2024 | up 9.3% | rising |
| 18 | Viet Nam | 89.5% | 2022 | up 16.5% | rising |
| 19 | United Arab Emirates | 88.9% | 2024 | up 1.7% | volatile |
| 20 | Venezuela | 88.6% | 2017 | up 15.5% | rising |
| 21 | Singapore | 88.1% | 2020 | up 16.3% | rising |
| 22 | China | 87.1% | 2020 | up 17.9% | rising |
| 23 | Türkiye | 86.2% | 2021 | up 21.8% | rising |
| 24 | Mexico | 85.1% | 2024 | up 9.7% | rising |
| 25 | Colombia | 85.0% | 2024 | up 6.5% | rising |
| 26 | Bahrain | 84.8% | 2024 | — | volatile |
| 27 | Saudi Arabia | 84.6% | 2024 | up 64.6% | volatile |
| 28 | Dominican Republic | 84.0% | 2024 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 29 | Brazil | 83.2% | 2024 | up 13.1% | rising |
| 30 | Mauritius | 82.3% | 2023 | up 27.5% | rising |
| 31 | Palestine, State of | 81.7% | 2024 | up 43.3% | rising |
| 32 | Malaysia | 81.7% | 2022 | up 39.7% | rising |
| 33 | Sri Lanka | 81.4% | 2024 | up 0.3% | rising |
| 34 | Macao | 81.2% | 2016 | up 35.2% | rising |
| 35 | Myanmar | 80.9% | 2020 | up 4.4% | rising |
| 36 | Bolivia, Plurinational State of | 80.7% | 2024 | up 19.2% | rising |
| 37 | Peru | 80.3% | 2024 | up 7.8% | rising |
| 38 | Thailand | 79.1% | 2022 | up 1.9% | rising |
| 39 | Paraguay | 79.0% | 2024 | down 1.0% | rising |
| 40 | Indonesia | 77.9% | 2020 | up 24.6% | rising |
| 41 | Ecuador | 77.9% | 2024 | up 1.1% | rising |
| 42 | Lesotho | 77.7% | 2024 | down 17.1% | rising |
| 43 | Kuwait | 76.1% | 2020 | up 25.4% | rising |
| 44 | Jordan | 75.6% | 2024 | down 13.8% | rising |
| 45 | El Salvador | 70.3% | 2024 | up 12.8% | rising |
| 46 | Honduras | 68.9% | 2024 | up 16.3% | rising |
| 47 | Sao Tome and Principe | 63.2% | 2019 | up 27.4% | rising |
| 48 | South Africa | 61.9% | 2024 | down 12.7% | rising |
| 49 | Nicaragua | 60.7% | 2014 | up 23.3% | rising |
| 50 | Namibia | 59.0% | 2023 | up 4.0% | rising |
| 51 | Oman | 58.4% | 2022 | up 150.8% | rising |
| 52 | Congo, Democratic Republic of the | 54.3% | 2023 | up 13.5% | rising |
| 53 | Tanzania, United Republic of | 53.9% | 2022 | up 23.7% | rising |
| 54 | Guatemala | 53.1% | 2024 | up 4.8% | rising |
| 55 | Tunisia | 52.2% | 2023 | up 101.0% | rising |
| 56 | Cameroon | 50.3% | 2018 | up 156.9% | volatile |
| 57 | Zambia | 50.0% | 2024 | down 13.1% | rising |
| 58 | Iran | 49.8% | 2023 | up 45.4% | rising |
| 59 | Cape Verde | 49.2% | 2024 | up 33.8% | rising |
| 60 | Uganda | 46.6% | 2024 | up 47.1% | rising |
| 61 | Nigeria | 46.1% | 2024 | up 56.3% | rising |
| 62 | India | 46.1% | 2024 | up 19.4% | rising |
| 63 | Bangladesh | 45.5% | 2022 | up 67.5% | rising |
| 64 | Rwanda | 42.0% | 2022 | up 73.0% | volatile |
| 65 | Lao People's Democratic Republic | 38.8% | 2023 | down 33.7% | rising |
| 66 | Egypt | 38.4% | 2022 | up 9.4% | rising |
| 67 | Malawi | 36.6% | 2020 | — | rising |
| 68 | Togo | 35.8% | 2022 | up 95.0% | rising |
| 69 | Burundi | 34.6% | 2020 | up 76.7% | volatile |
| 70 | Cambodia | 32.1% | 2021 | down 31.2% | rising |
| 71 | Mozambique | 30.8% | 2022 | up 45.7% | rising |
| 72 | Pakistan | 29.6% | 2021 | up 23.5% | rising |
| 73 | Senegal | 27.2% | 2023 | up 26.0% | rising |
| 74 | Benin | 25.1% | 2022 | up 77.9% | volatile |
| 75 | Morocco | 24.0% | 2014 | up 73.2% | rising |
| 76 | Guinea | 23.0% | 2018 | up 168.9% | rising |
| 77 | Côte d'Ivoire | 22.5% | 2021 | up 25.1% | rising |
| 78 | Nepal | 21.1% | 2019 | up 15.5% | rising |
| 79 | Ethiopia | 17.8% | 2022 | up 20.5% | rising |
| 80 | Niger | 17.4% | 2022 | up 26.9% | rising |
| 81 | Afghanistan | 16.5% | 2021 | up 16.6% | rising |
| 82 | Burkina Faso | 16.1% | 2023 | up 91.4% | volatile |
| 83 | Mali | 13.1% | 2024 | down 3.4% | rising |
| 84 | Chad | 11.0% | 2019 | up 316.7% | volatile |
| 85 | Sierra Leone | 5.8% | 2019 | down 57.7% | falling |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- ECE: Eurasian Economic Union (eaeu) (unsdcode:98206) 99.9%
- ECE: Cis (cwg) (unsdcode:98201) 99.8%
- ECE: Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia (cis) (unsdcode:98202) 99.8%
- ESCAP: North and Central Asia (nca) (unsdcode:98417) 99.8%
- GPE: Europe & Central Asia Wb Fy24, December 2024 99.5%
- MDG: Caucasus and Central Asia 99.2%
- UIS: Central Asia 99.2%
- WB: Central Europe and the Baltics 99.2%
- AIMS: Central Asia 99.2%
- SDG: Central Asia 99.2%
- UIS: Central and Eastern Europe 98.0%
- WB: Europe & Central Asia (ida & Ibrd) 98.0%
- UNICEF: Central and Eastern Europe/commonwealth of Independent States 97.8%
- UNICEF: Eastern Europe and Central Asia 97.8%
- ESCAP: North America (nam) (unsdcode:98425) 97.5%
- SDG: Northern America 97.5%
- UNICEF: North America 97.5%
- WB: North America 97.5%
- SDG: Europe and Northern America 97.0%
- ECE: All Countries (unsdcode:98200) 96.6%
- ECE: West Balkans (st7) (unsdcode:98205) 96.6%
- SDG: Europe, Northern America, Australia and New Zealand 96.4%
- UNICEF: Europe and Central Asia Programme Countries 96.2%
- UNICEF: Western Balkans 96.0%
- WB: Europe & Central Asia (excluding High Income) 95.7%
- MDG: Eastern Asia (excluding China) 93.2%
- MDG: Eastern Asia 90.1%
- WB: Late-demographic Dividend 89.9%
- ESCAP: Wb Upper Middle Income Economies (wb_upper_mid) (unsdcode:98437) 89.9%
- ESCAP: East and North-east Asia (enea) (unsdcode:98408) 89.0%
- SDG: Eastern Asia 89.0%
- WB: East Asia & Pacific (excluding High Income) 88.9%
- UNICEF: East Asia and the Pacific Programme Countries 88.9%
- WB: East Asia & Pacific (ida & Ibrd) 88.7%
- SDG: Eastern and South-eastern Asia 88.3%
- AIMS: East Asia 88.3%
- UNICEF: East Asia and Pacific 88.0%
- AIMS: East Asia and the Pacific 88.0%
- UIS: East Asia and the Pacific 88.0%
- WB: East Asia & Pacific 88.0%
About this data
February 2026 Data Release