Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405)
ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405): Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female was 29.4% in 2024. ▲ Rising
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405), 1981–2024
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Measured in %.
Analysis
In 2024, elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) stood at 29.4%. That is the highest value across all 44 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.6% on the previous year and up 25.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) peaked at 29.4% in 2024 and was at its lowest, 12.1%, in 1993.
That places ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) 161st out of 201 groups with data for 2024, putting it in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 44 years of available data.
Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405), year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 12.2% | — |
| 1982 | 12.3% | +0.4% |
| 1983 | 12.7% | +3.1% |
| 1984 | 12.7% | +0.4% |
| 1985 | 12.8% | +0.2% |
| 1986 | 12.8% | +0.2% |
| 1987 | 12.9% | +0.5% |
| 1988 | 13.0% | +0.9% |
| 1989 | 12.9% | -0.7% |
| 1990 | 12.9% | +0.5% |
| 1991 | 12.1% | -6.4% |
| 1992 | 12.2% | +0.7% |
| 1993 | 12.1% | -0.8% |
| 1994 | 12.1% | +0.2% |
| 1995 | 12.6% | +3.8% |
| 1996 | 12.9% | +2.1% |
| 1997 | 13.3% | +3.7% |
| 1998 | 14.0% | +5.0% |
| 1999 | 14.4% | +3.0% |
| 2000 | 13.8% | -3.9% |
| 2001 | 14.2% | +2.3% |
| 2002 | 14.2% | +0.4% |
| 2003 | 15.8% | +11.3% |
| 2004 | 15.7% | -0.9% |
| 2005 | 15.7% | +0.2% |
| 2006 | 16.1% | +2.3% |
| 2007 | 17.0% | +6.0% |
| 2008 | 18.7% | +9.8% |
| 2009 | 21.2% | +13.4% |
| 2010 | 21.3% | +0.5% |
| 2011 | 21.4% | +0.4% |
| 2012 | 22.1% | +3.2% |
| 2013 | 22.6% | +2.6% |
| 2014 | 23.4% | +3.5% |
| 2015 | 23.8% | +1.5% |
| 2016 | 23.6% | -0.5% |
| 2017 | 23.3% | -1.4% |
| 2018 | 25.2% | +8.2% |
| 2019 | 27.8% | +9.9% |
| 2020 | 28.4% | +2.5% |
| 2021 | 27.3% | -3.9% |
| 2022 | 28.0% | +2.6% |
| 2023 | 28.7% | +2.4% |
| 2024 | 29.4% | +2.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 12.7% | 12.2% | 13.0% | 9 |
| 1990s | 12.9% | 12.1% | 14.4% | 10 |
| 2000s | 16.2% | 13.8% | 21.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 23.5% | 21.3% | 27.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 28.4% | 27.3% | 29.4% | 5 |
More education data for ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number) 19.22 million (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), annual growth rate 2.35 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), gaps filled 54.20 million (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, male (number), annual growth rate 1.87 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), gaps filled 29.65 million (2024)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, both sexes (number), annual 2.01 % change on previous year (2024)
- Teachers in primary education, male (number), gaps filled 2.94 million (2024)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 2.62 % change on previous year (2024)
- Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, female (number) 9.24 million (2024)
- Enrolment in secondary education, female (number), gaps filled 50.51 million (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405)?
- Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) was 29.4% in 2024, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- What is the highest elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female recorded in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405)?
- The highest recorded value was 29.4% in 2024.
- What is the lowest elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female recorded in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405)?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.1% in 1993.
- How does ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) rank for elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female?
- ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) ranks 161st out of 201 groups with data for 2024.
- Is elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female rising or falling in ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405)?
- Over the last ten years it is up 25.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this ESCAP: Africa (afr) (unsdcode:98405) data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics, published as part of Elderly literacy rate, population 65+ years, female (%). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 44 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics).
About this data
February 2026 Data Release