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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Malawi was 83.94 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 97.69 in 2002 and 83.94 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 88.68
1961 89.08
1962 88.80
1963 88.17
1964 87.61
1965 87.30
1966 88.14
1967 88.97
1968 89.70
1969 90.19
1970 90.37
1971 91.51
1972 92.19
1973 92.54
1974 92.74
1975 92.87
1976 93.72
1977 94.33
1978 94.74
1979 94.95
1980 94.99
1981 95.94
1982 96.47
1983 96.71
1984 96.90
1985 97.20
1986 96.58
1987 95.89
1988 95.06
1989 93.80
1990 91.93
1991 92.88
1992 93.26
1993 93.27
1994 93.35
1995 93.82
1996 94.59
1997 95.43
1998 96.23
1999 96.76
2000 96.86
2001 97.52
2002 97.69
2003 97.52
2004 97.25
2005 97.04
2006 97.02
2007 97.01
2008 96.94
2009 96.66
2010 96.11
2011 95.71
2012 94.89
2013 93.79
2014 92.56
2015 91.29
2016 89.87
2017 88.49
2018 87.08
2019 85.57
2020 83.94

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