IBRD only - Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population)

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in IBRD only was 47.89 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 80.91 in 1966 and 46.97 in 2015.

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 76.75
1961 77.56
1962 78.65
1963 79.73
1964 80.36
1965 80.41
1966 80.91
1967 80.75
1968 80.18
1969 79.56
1970 79.04
1971 78.92
1972 78.70
1973 78.38
1974 77.88
1975 77.16
1976 76.47
1977 75.59
1978 74.54
1979 73.38
1980 72.17
1981 71.00
1982 69.88
1983 68.79
1984 67.74
1985 66.74
1986 66.17
1987 65.58
1988 64.99
1989 64.40
1990 63.75
1991 63.43
1992 62.85
1993 62.11
1994 61.35
1995 60.61
1996 59.60
1997 58.80
1998 58.05
1999 57.15
2000 56.04
2001 55.16
2002 54.07
2003 52.87
2004 51.75
2005 50.79
2006 50.00
2007 49.34
2008 48.80
2009 48.32
2010 47.89
2011 47.60
2012 47.34
2013 47.12
2014 47.00
2015 46.97
2016 47.08
2017 47.27
2018 47.50
2019 47.72
2020 47.89

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