Kakwani and Subbarao (2005) examined household survey data from 15 countries in sub-Saharan Africa against the respective national poverty lines.29 The study confirmed that poverty rates are high in sub-Saharan Africa for the whole population in general and for the older population in particular. National poverty rates varied from 36.7 per cent to 68.9 per cent in the general population and between 43.7 per cent and 79.4 per cent among older persons (table 5.1). In 11 of the 15 countries studied, the incidence of poverty was higher for the older population than for the population as a whole. The exceptions were Burundi, Madagascar, Mozambique and Nigeria.