Dependency ratios are a measure of the age structure of a population. They indicate the proportion of individuals that are likely to be economically "dependent" on the support of others. Dependency ratios relate the numbers of children (ages 0–14) and the elderly (ages 65+) to the number of adults (ages 15–64). Changes in the dependency ratio provide an indication of potential social support requirements resulting from changes in population age structures. When fertility levels decline, the dependency ratio initially falls because the proportion of children decreases while the proportion of the population of working age increases. If fertility levels continue to decline, dependency ratios eventually increase because the proportion of the population of working age starts to decline and the proportion of elderly persons continues to increase.
The ''total dependency ratio'' is the total numbers of the children (ages 0–14) and elderly (ages 65+) populations per 100 people of adults (ages 15–64). A high total dependency ratio indicates that the adult population and the overall economy face a greater burden to support and provide social services for youth and elderly persons, who are often economically dependent.
The ''children dependency ratio'' is the number of the children population (ages 0–14) per 100 people of adults (ages 15–64). A high children dependency ratio indicates that a greater investment needs to be made in schooling and other services for children.
The ''elderly dependency ratio'' is the number of the elderly population (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15–64). Increases in the elderly dependency ratio put added pressure on governments to fund pensions and healthcare.
The ''potential support ratio'' is the number of adults (ages 15–64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). It is the
reciprocal
Reciprocal may refer to:
In mathematics
* Multiplicative inverse, in mathematics, the number 1/''x'', which multiplied by ''x'' gives the product 1, also known as a ''reciprocal''
* Reciprocal polynomial, a polynomial obtained from another pol ...
of the elderly dependency ratio. As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.
List (2020)
All data is for the year 2020. Source is the
CIA World Factbook
''The World Factbook'', also known as the ''CIA World Factbook'', is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official print version is available ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Countries by dependency ratio
Dependency ratio
Dependency ratio
Demographic lists