Belgium - Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population)

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Belgium was 56.96 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 58.72 in 1969 and 47.91 in 1986.

Definition: Age dependency ratio is the ratio of dependents--people younger than 15 or older than 64--to the working-age population--those ages 15-64. Data are shown as the proportion of dependents per 100 working-age population.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on age distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2019 Revision.

See also:

Year Value
1960 54.76
1961 55.76
1962 56.38
1963 56.72
1964 57.01
1965 57.34
1966 57.86
1967 58.26
1968 58.56
1969 58.72
1970 58.72
1971 58.63
1972 58.44
1973 58.11
1974 57.60
1975 56.92
1976 56.43
1977 55.79
1978 54.98
1979 54.01
1980 52.87
1981 51.81
1982 50.64
1983 49.51
1984 48.59
1985 47.97
1986 47.91
1987 48.07
1988 48.37
1989 48.72
1990 49.07
1991 49.47
1992 49.89
1993 50.32
1994 50.74
1995 51.10
1996 51.56
1997 51.90
1998 52.14
1999 52.33
2000 52.51
2001 52.55
2002 52.60
2003 52.65
2004 52.64
2005 52.53
2006 52.47
2007 52.28
2008 52.06
2009 51.94
2010 52.01
2011 52.33
2012 52.74
2013 53.24
2014 53.74
2015 54.19
2016 54.77
2017 55.33
2018 55.87
2019 56.41
2020 56.96

Development Relevance: Patterns of development in a country are partly determined by the age composition of its population. Different age groups have different impacts on both the environment and on infrastructure needs. Therefore the age structure of a population is useful for analyzing resource use and formulating future policy and planning goals with regards infrastructure and development.

Limitations and Exceptions: Because the five-year age group is the cohort unit and five-year period data are used in the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects, interpolations to obtain annual data or single age structure may not reflect actual events or age composition. For more information, see the original source.

Statistical Concept and Methodology: Dependency ratios capture variations in the proportions of children, elderly people, and working-age people in the population that imply the dependency burden that the working-age population bears in relation to children and the elderly. But dependency ratios show only the age composition of a population, not economic dependency. Some children and elderly people are part of the labor force, and many working-age people are not. Age structure in the World Bank's population estimates is based on the age structure in United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects. For more information, see the original source.

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

General Comments: Relevance to gender indicator: this indicator implies the dependency burden that the working-age population bears in relation to children and the elderly. Many times single or widowed women who are the sole caregiver of a household have a high dependency

Classification

Topic: Health Indicators

Sub-Topic: Population