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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in IDA total was 73.79 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 92.32 in 1983 and 73.79 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 83.31
1961 84.39
1962 85.27
1963 85.99
1964 86.55
1965 86.95
1966 88.00
1967 88.78
1968 89.32
1969 89.67
1970 89.82
1971 90.48
1972 90.93
1973 91.18
1974 91.29
1975 91.27
1976 91.73
1977 91.94
1978 91.99
1979 91.92
1980 91.76
1981 92.14
1982 92.31
1983 92.32
1984 92.19
1985 91.96
1986 92.22
1987 92.25
1988 92.11
1989 91.81
1990 91.38
1991 91.27
1992 90.98
1993 90.52
1994 89.91
1995 89.18
1996 88.85
1997 88.34
1998 87.70
1999 86.95
2000 86.13
2001 85.68
2002 85.11
2003 84.47
2004 83.79
2005 83.10
2006 82.68
2007 82.22
2008 81.70
2009 81.12
2010 80.47
2011 79.96
2012 79.37
2013 78.72
2014 78.02
2015 77.28
2016 76.68
2017 76.01
2018 75.31
2019 74.56
2020 73.79

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