Euro area - Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population)

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Euro area was 56.56 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 58.93 in 1972 and 48.09 in 1990.

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 54.87
1961 55.40
1962 55.77
1963 56.04
1964 56.31
1965 56.63
1966 57.19
1967 57.67
1968 58.10
1969 58.46
1970 58.74
1971 58.90
1972 58.93
1973 58.85
1974 58.62
1975 58.25
1976 57.92
1977 57.48
1978 56.88
1979 56.05
1980 54.96
1981 53.87
1982 52.57
1983 51.23
1984 50.05
1985 49.15
1986 48.68
1987 48.39
1988 48.25
1989 48.17
1990 48.09
1991 48.13
1992 48.18
1993 48.23
1994 48.27
1995 48.29
1996 48.38
1997 48.45
1998 48.51
1999 48.59
2000 48.72
2001 48.88
2002 49.07
2003 49.28
2004 49.48
2005 49.65
2006 49.96
2007 50.21
2008 50.44
2009 50.72
2010 51.08
2011 51.62
2012 52.20
2013 52.80
2014 53.41
2015 54.02
2016 54.52
2017 55.02
2018 55.53
2019 56.04
2020 56.56

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