Sierra Leone - Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population)

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Sierra Leone was 76.28 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 91.86 in 1993 and 72.52 in 1960.

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 72.52
1961 73.42
1962 73.98
1963 74.33
1964 74.57
1965 74.75
1966 76.06
1967 77.08
1968 77.89
1969 78.53
1970 79.02
1971 80.44
1972 81.56
1973 82.42
1974 83.06
1975 83.47
1976 84.69
1977 85.53
1978 86.07
1979 86.41
1980 86.61
1981 87.58
1982 88.28
1983 88.75
1984 89.01
1985 89.13
1986 90.05
1987 90.64
1988 90.96
1989 90.98
1990 90.56
1991 91.27
1992 91.72
1993 91.86
1994 91.71
1995 91.39
1996 91.66
1997 91.47
1998 91.01
1999 90.55
2000 90.34
2001 90.21
2002 89.93
2003 89.58
2004 89.07
2005 88.29
2006 88.15
2007 87.80
2008 87.22
2009 86.44
2010 85.51
2011 85.07
2012 84.38
2013 83.52
2014 82.54
2015 81.49
2016 80.59
2017 79.66
2018 78.66
2019 77.53
2020 76.28

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