South Africa - Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population)

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in South Africa was 52.23 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 84.64 in 1966 and 52.22 in 2014.

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 80.64
1961 81.48
1962 82.50
1963 83.49
1964 84.14
1965 84.32
1966 84.64
1967 84.47
1968 83.97
1969 83.39
1970 82.87
1971 82.79
1972 82.69
1973 82.53
1974 82.26
1975 81.82
1976 81.91
1977 81.72
1978 81.39
1979 81.08
1980 80.90
1981 80.81
1982 80.90
1983 81.01
1984 80.96
1985 80.67
1986 80.86
1987 80.65
1988 80.16
1989 79.55
1990 78.85
1991 77.59
1992 76.23
1993 74.75
1994 73.13
1995 71.36
1996 69.70
1997 67.96
1998 66.14
1999 64.24
2000 62.28
2001 60.82
2002 59.27
2003 57.71
2004 56.27
2005 55.02
2006 54.24
2007 53.65
2008 53.21
2009 52.83
2010 52.49
2011 52.48
2012 52.37
2013 52.26
2014 52.22
2015 52.25
2016 52.29
2017 52.37
2018 52.43
2019 52.40
2020 52.23

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