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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in IDA only was 74.13 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 92.86 in 1982 and 74.13 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 84.27
1961 85.34
1962 86.21
1963 86.90
1964 87.40
1965 87.73
1966 88.74
1967 89.45
1968 89.92
1969 90.17
1970 90.22
1971 90.89
1972 91.33
1973 91.57
1974 91.66
1975 91.64
1976 92.15
1977 92.41
1978 92.50
1979 92.46
1980 92.32
1981 92.70
1982 92.86
1983 92.82
1984 92.64
1985 92.34
1986 92.57
1987 92.55
1988 92.35
1989 92.01
1990 91.56
1991 91.36
1992 91.02
1993 90.55
1994 89.94
1995 89.19
1996 88.95
1997 88.53
1998 87.96
1999 87.30
2000 86.59
2001 86.22
2002 85.75
2003 85.21
2004 84.63
2005 84.01
2006 83.68
2007 83.27
2008 82.79
2009 82.23
2010 81.60
2011 81.04
2012 80.38
2013 79.64
2014 78.86
2015 78.05
2016 77.34
2017 76.58
2018 75.78
2019 74.96
2020 74.13

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