World - Population ages 0-14 (% of total population)

Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) in World was 25.48 as of 2020. Its highest value over the past 60 years was 38.01 in 1966, while its lowest value was 25.48 in 2020.

Definition: Population between the ages 0 to 14 as a percentage of the total population. Population is based on the de facto definition of population.

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on age/sex distributions of United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2019 Revision.

See also:

Year Value
1960 37.17
1961 37.35
1962 37.57
1963 37.78
1964 37.91
1965 37.92
1966 38.01
1967 37.96
1968 37.83
1969 37.68
1970 37.55
1971 37.47
1972 37.37
1973 37.24
1974 37.07
1975 36.85
1976 36.63
1977 36.36
1978 36.03
1979 35.68
1980 35.33
1981 35.00
1982 34.68
1983 34.39
1984 34.09
1985 33.80
1986 33.63
1987 33.45
1988 33.26
1989 33.07
1990 32.86
1991 32.74
1992 32.53
1993 32.28
1994 32.02
1995 31.77
1996 31.42
1997 31.14
1998 30.87
1999 30.55
2000 30.16
2001 29.82
2002 29.41
2003 28.96
2004 28.54
2005 28.18
2006 27.88
2007 27.62
2008 27.41
2009 27.21
2010 27.02
2011 26.86
2012 26.69
2013 26.52
2014 26.36
2015 26.21
2016 26.06
2017 25.92
2018 25.79
2019 25.64
2020 25.48

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. This indicator is used for calculating age dependency ratio (percent of working-age population). The age dependency ratio is the ratio of the sum of the population aged 0-14 and the population aged 65 and above to the population aged 15-64. In many developing countries, the once rapidly growing population group of the under-15 population is shrinking. As a result, high fertility rates, together with declining mortality rates, are now reflected in the larger share of the 65 and older population.

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: 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. Total population is based on the de facto population including all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates. For more information see metadata for total population (SP.POP.TOTL).

Aggregation method: Weighted average

Periodicity: Annual

Classification

Topic: Health Indicators

Sub-Topic: Population