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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Canada was 51.24 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 71.14 in 1962 and 43.93 in 2008.

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 70.72
1961 71.10
1962 71.14
1963 70.88
1964 70.36
1965 69.62
1966 68.43
1967 66.91
1968 65.18
1969 63.41
1970 61.69
1971 59.71
1972 57.97
1973 56.36
1974 54.75
1975 53.09
1976 51.94
1977 50.67
1978 49.40
1979 48.30
1980 47.46
1981 46.85
1982 46.43
1983 46.19
1984 46.07
1985 46.06
1986 46.15
1987 46.30
1988 46.48
1989 46.70
1990 46.94
1991 47.21
1992 47.48
1993 47.70
1994 47.81
1995 47.78
1996 47.78
1997 47.59
1998 47.25
1999 46.86
2000 46.47
2001 46.01
2002 45.59
2003 45.21
2004 44.83
2005 44.50
2006 44.24
2007 44.03
2008 43.93
2009 43.98
2010 44.18
2011 44.65
2012 45.14
2013 45.71
2014 46.38
2015 47.16
2016 47.83
2017 48.62
2018 49.48
2019 50.36
2020 51.24

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