CAIRO, Sept 7 (Aswat Masriya) – Over 29 percent of Egypt's population above 15 years of age are illiterate, according to a report conducted by the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) for the year 2013.

The report, released by CAPMAS on Sunday ahead of the International Literacy Day, shows a slight decrease in illiteracy rates among the population above 10 years of age where it stood at 25.9 percent (17.2 million) in 2013, compared to 29.7 percent (17 million) in 2006.

According to the report, the rate of illiteracy among youth (15 to 24 years of age) is much lower than its rate among the elderly (over 60 years old); the former stood at 8.6 percent while the latter stood at a whopping 64.9 percent.

"This gives a positive indication regarding the decline in illiteracy rates in the future," the CAPMAS report read.

Females ranked higher than males in illiteracy rates, with 38.5 percent illiteracy rate for the former as opposed to 21.2 percent for the latter.

The illiteracy rate of citizens residing in the countryside stood at 31.2 percent, ranking higher than urban residents, whose illiteracy rate was reported to be 19.1 percent.

The highest rate of illiteracy was recorded in the governorate of Fayoum, standing at 37 percent, while the border governorate of the Red Sea's illiteracy rate was the lowest, standing at 12 percent. Illiteracy rates in the capital stood at 20.2 percent.

The CAPMAS report also compared between Egypt's illiteracy rate and that of 17 other Arab countries. Egypt ranked fourth in illiteracy rates in the time span between 2005 and 2012. It was preceded by Sudan (41.3 percent), Yemen (40.7 percent) and Morocco (32.9 percent).

The UNESCO proclaimed September 8 the International Literacy Day in 1965 and has been celebrating it since 1966. The theme for this year's International Literacy Day is "literacy and sustainable development."