Age structure 2020 estimate: 0–14 years: 24%15–64 years: 60%65 years and over: 6% Sex ratio 2009 estimate: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 12 years 1.05 male(s)/female 15–64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.99 male(s)/female Infant mortality rate 2009 estimate: Total: 23.43 deaths per 1,000 live births Male: 27.7 deaths per 1,000 live births Female: 18.9 deaths per 1,000 live births Life expectancy at birth 2020 estimate: total population: 75.2 years male: 72.95 years female: 78.15 years Literacy 2003 estimate: Literacy is defined as the percentage of the population aged 15 and over that can read and write. total population: 99.3% male: 99.6% female: 99% Education The educational system has achieved 99% literacy, and the mean amount of schooling for both men and women is 12 years. The government provides free and compulsory 12-year education. In 2016 Uzbekistan acknowledged the country's lack of higher education services to support its market needs. In addition, private higher education providers have begun to emerge on the market to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills needed in the labor market. TEAM University, a private university in Tashkent, aims to develop the skills required to start entrepreneurial activities, thereby contributing to the development of businesses and private enterprises. Migration As of 2011, Uzbekistan has a net migration rate of -2.74 migrant(s)/ 1000 population. The process of migration changed after the fall of the Soviet Union. During the Soviet Union, passports facilitated movement throughout the fifteen republics and movement throughout the republics was relatively less expensive than it is today. An application for a labor abroad permit from a special department of the Uzbek Agency of External Labor Migration in Uzbekistan is required since 2003. The permit was originally not affordable to many Uzbeks and the process was criticized for the bureaucratic red tape it required. The same departments and agencies involved in creating this permit are consequently working to substantially reduce the costs as well as simplifying the procedure. On July 4, 2007, the Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergey Ivanov signed three agreements that would address labor activity and protection of the rights of the working migrants (this includes Russian citizens in Uzbekistan and Uzbek citizens in Russia) as well as cooperation in fighting undocumented immigration and the deportation of undocumented workers. Uzbek Migration Economic difficulties have increased labor migration to Russia, Kazakhstan, the United Arab Emirates