Table A shows that illiteracy rates for both males and females have decreased significantly, but the female illiteracy rate is still much higher than that of males except in the developed countries and Latin America. Northern Africa and Western Asia follow with 56 percent, respectively. Sub-Saharan Africa and Eastern Asia and Oceania then follow with 53 percent and 24 percent, respectively.
More developed regions comprise North America, Japan, Europe and Australia and New Zealand.
Least developed countries, as defined by the United Nations General Assembly in 1998, include 48 countries, of which 33 are in Africa, nine in Asia, one in Latin America and the Caribbean and five in Oceania. They are also included under less developed regions. The projections for the period 1995-2000 show a longer life expectancy for both sexes, except for a slight deterioration in eastern and southern Africa. Longer life expectancy for women is noted in all regions. According to the most recent data available.