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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Zimbabwe was 81.57 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 110.17 in 1979 and 79.68 in 2007.

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 95.73
1961 97.35
1962 99.74
1963 102.40
1964 104.49
1965 105.67
1966 107.11
1967 107.66
1968 107.60
1969 107.44
1970 107.41
1971 107.68
1972 107.97
1973 108.23
1974 108.35
1975 108.29
1976 109.04
1977 109.64
1978 110.03
1979 110.17
1980 110.05
1981 109.15
1982 107.74
1983 106.03
1984 104.27
1985 102.56
1986 100.87
1987 99.39
1988 97.89
1989 96.06
1990 93.77
1991 93.09
1992 91.78
1993 90.05
1994 88.24
1995 86.51
1996 85.55
1997 84.79
1998 84.06
1999 83.15
2000 82.00
2001 81.56
2002 81.03
2003 80.49
2004 80.13
2005 80.04
2006 79.69
2007 79.68
2008 79.91
2009 80.29
2010 80.77
2011 81.23
2012 81.78
2013 82.35
2014 82.84
2015 83.14
2016 83.58
2017 83.47
2018 82.95
2019 82.28
2020 81.57

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