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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Zambia was 85.70 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 104.85 in 1977 and 85.70 in 2020.

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 93.62
1961 94.95
1962 96.08
1963 97.05
1964 97.89
1965 98.61
1966 99.76
1967 100.57
1968 101.15
1969 101.60
1970 101.98
1971 102.64
1972 103.26
1973 103.77
1974 104.05
1975 104.08
1976 104.67
1977 104.85
1978 104.77
1979 104.58
1980 104.34
1981 104.28
1982 104.04
1983 103.63
1984 103.03
1985 102.21
1986 102.00
1987 101.60
1988 101.00
1989 100.20
1990 99.19
1991 99.21
1992 98.94
1993 98.46
1994 97.88
1995 97.28
1996 97.07
1997 96.74
1998 96.33
1999 95.84
2000 95.32
2001 95.85
2002 96.30
2003 96.65
2004 96.91
2005 97.06
2006 97.52
2007 97.73
2008 97.76
2009 97.68
2010 97.52
2011 96.88
2012 96.21
2013 95.44
2014 94.45
2015 93.20
2016 91.97
2017 90.46
2018 88.81
2019 87.19
2020 85.70

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