People > Dependency ratios > Total dependency ratio: Countries Compared

DEFINITION: This entry is derived from People > Dependency ratios, which dependency ratios are a measure of the age structure of a population. They relate the number of individuals that are likely to be economically "dependent" on the support of others. Dependency ratios contrast the ratio of youths (ages 0-14) and the elderly (ages 65+) to the number of those in the working-age group (ages 15-64). Changes in the dependency ratio provide an indication of potential social support requirements resulting from changes in population age structures. As fertility levels decline, the dependency ratio initially falls because the proportion of youths decreases while the proportion of the population of working age increases. As 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.
total dependency ratio - The total dependency ratio is the ratio of combined youth population (ages 0-14) and elderly population (ages 65+) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64). A high total dependency ratio indicates that the working-age 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.
youth dependency ratio - The youth dependency ratio is the ratio of the youth population (ages 0-14) per 100 people of working age (ages 15-64). A high youth dependency ratio indicates that a greater investment needs to be made in schooling and other services for children.
elderly dependency ratio - The elderly dependency ratio is the ratio 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.
potential support ratio - The potential support ratio is the number of working-age people (ages 15-64) per one elderly person (ages 65+). As a population ages, the potential support ratio tends to fall, meaning there are fewer potential workers to support the elderly.

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#	COUNTRY	AMOUNT	DATE
1	Niger	111.5%	2013
=2	Chad	103.3%	2013
=2	Uganda	103.3%	2013
4	Mali	100.7%	2013
5	Somalia	100.1%	2013
6	Angola	99.6%	2013
7	Zambia	97%	2013
8	East Timor	96.3%	2013
9	Afghanistan	96%	2013
10	Mozambique	94.8%	2013
11	Malawi	94.1%	2013
12	The Gambia	93.5%	2013
13	Tanzania	92.5%	2013
14	Burkina Faso	92.3%	2013
15	Democratic Republic of the Congo	91.9%	2013
16	Nigeria	89%	2013
17	Burundi	88.6%	2013
18	Senegal	86.9%	2013
19	Cameroon	85.8%	2013
20	Ethiopia	85.5%	2013
=21	Liberia	84.9%	2013
=21	Congo, Republic of the	84.9%	2013
23	Benin	84%	2013
24	South Sudan	83.8%	2013
=25	Guinea	83.2%	2013
=25	Eritrea	83.2%	2013
27	Rwanda	82.8%	2013
28	Madagascar	82.5%	2013
	failed states average (profile)	82.49%	2013
=29	Sao Tome and Principe	81.8%	2013
=29	Guatemala	81.8%	2013
31	Comoros	81.6%	2013
32	Kenya	81.5%	2013
	Sub-Saharan Africa average (profile)	81.34%	2013
33	Togo	80.5%	2013
34	Cote d'Ivoire	80.2%	2013
35	Sudan	79.9%	2013
36	Guinea-Bissau	79.7%	2013
37	Sierra Leone	79.3%	2013
38	Central African Republic	77.5%	2013
39	Gabon	77.4%	2013
40	Solomon Islands	77.1%	2013
41	Zimbabwe	76.4%	2013
42	Mauritania	76.3%	2013
43	Iraq	76.2%	2013
44	Tonga	75.7%	2013
=45	Gaza Strip	75.6%	2013
=45	Yemen	75.6%	2013
=45	West Bank	75.6%	2013
48	Samoa	75.1%	2013
	Former French colonies average (profile)	74.06%	2013
49	Ghana	72.2%	2013
50	Equatorial Guinea	71.4%	2013
51	Swaziland	70.4%	2013
52	Vanuatu	69.5%	2013
53	Papua New Guinea	69.3%	2013
54	Lesotho	68.3%	2013
	Landlocked countries average (profile)	66.29%	2013
55	Nepal	66.1%	2013
56	Bolivia	66%	2013
57	Honduras	65.8%	2013
58	Namibia	65.5%	2013
59	Guyana	65.3%	2013
60	Haiti	65.2%	2013
61	Federated States of Micronesia	64.4%	2013
62	Syria	64.3%	2013
	Sparsely populated countries average (profile)	64.17%	2013
63	Tajikistan	64.1%	2013
64	Laos	63.8%	2013
	Hot countries average (profile)	63.79%	2013
65	Israel	62.5%	2013
	South Asia average (profile)	62.48%	2013
66	Pakistan	61.8%	2013
67	Japan	61.6%	2013
	Muslim countries average (profile)	61.55%	2013
68	Philippines	61.4%	2013
69	Paraguay	61%	2013
70	Belize	60.9%	2013
71	Djibouti	60.5%	2013
72	Jordan	60.2%	2013
73	Nicaragua	59.9%	2013
	Former British colonies average (profile)	59.81%	2013
	Christian countries average (profile)	59.53%	2013
74	Botswana	59.1%	2013
75	El Salvador	59%	2013
76	Egypt	58.5%	2013
77	Virgin Islands	58.1%	2013
	Religious countries average (profile)	57.85%	2013
78	Dominican Republic	57.5%	2013
79	Ecuador	57.4%	2013
80	Cambodia	57.3%	2013
	South and Central Asia average (profile)	57.08%	2013
81	Sweden	56.8%	2013
	Former Spanish colonies average (profile)	56.72%	2013
	Catholic countries average (profile)	56.67%	2013
82	France	56.5%	2013
=83	Kiribati	56.2%	2013
=83	Uruguay	56.2%	2013
	East Asia and Pacific average (profile)	55.56%	2013
85	Panama	55.1%	2013
=86	Finland	55%	2013
=86	Denmark	55%	2013
	Heavily indebted countries average (profile)	54.43%	2013
=88	Italy	54.3%	2013
=88	Argentina	54.3%	2013
90	Peru	54.2%	2013
=91	United Kingdom	54%	2013
=91	Jamaica	54%	2013
	Latin America and Caribbean average (profile)	53.91%	2013
93	South Africa	53.9%	2013
94	Belgium	53.8%	2013
95	Mexico	53.6%	2013
	Group of 7 countries (G7) average (profile)	53.59%	2013
96	Cape Verde	53.5%	2013
97	Bangladesh	53.3%	2013
98	Venezuela	53.2%	2013
99	Kyrgyzstan	52.7%	2013
	OPEC countries average (profile)	52.63%	2013
100	Norway	52.6%	2013
101	India	52.4%	2013
=102	Greece	52.3%	2013
=102	Guam	52.3%	2013
104	Fiji	52.2%	2013
105	Libya	52.1%	2013
106	Germany	52%	2013
107	New Zealand	51.9%	2013
108	Indonesia	51.8%	2013
109	Netherlands	51.7%	2013
110	Suriname	51.6%	2013
111	Grenada	51.3%	2013
=112	Estonia	51.2%	2013
=112	Colombia	51.2%	2013
=114	Ireland	50.8%	2013
=114	Maldives	50.8%	2013
116	Sri Lanka	50.7%	2013
	High income OECD countries average (profile)	50.56%	2013
117	Portugal	50.5%	2013
=118	United States	50.4%	2013
=118	Iceland	50.4%	2013
=120	Australia	50.2%	2013
=120	Latvia	50.2%	2013
122	Puerto Rico	50.1%	2013
	Eurozone average (profile)	49.68%	2013
123	Croatia	49.6%	2013
124	Spain	49.5%	2013
	European Union average (profile)	49.33%	2013
125	Turkey	49.3%	2013
126	Bulgaria	49.2%	2013
	NATO countries average (profile)	49.18%	2013
127	Uzbekistan	49%	2013
=128	Morocco	48.9%	2013
=128	Austria	48.9%	2013
=128	Bhutan	48.9%	2013
	Emerging markets average (profile)	48.76%	2013
131	Saint Lucia	48.6%	2013
=132	Turkmenistan	48.3%	2013
=132	New Caledonia	48.3%	2013
	Cold countries average (profile)	48.28%	2013
134	Switzerland	48.1%	2013
135	Kazakhstan	48%	2013
136	Algeria	47.9%	2013
137	Georgia	47.7%	2013
	Middle Eastern and North Africa average (profile)	47.69%	2013
	Europe average (profile)	47.66%	2013
138	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	47.6%	2013
	Non-religious countries average (profile)	47.59%	2013
139	Antigua and Barbuda	47.2%	2013
140	Saudi Arabia	46.9%	2013
141	Hungary	46.8%	2013
	Former Soviet republics average (profile)	46.71%	2013
142	Montenegro	46.7%	2013
143	Luxembourg	46.5%	2013
144	Canada	46.3%	2013
145	Brazil	46.2%	2013
146	Czech Republic	46.1%	2013
	Potential Future EU Members average (profile)	46.07%	2013
=147	Jersey	46%	2013
=147	Guernsey	46%	2013
=147	Slovenia	46%	2013
150	Malaysia	45.9%	2013
151	Albania	45.7%	2013
152	Bosnia and Herzegovina	45.5%	2013
153	North Korea	45.2%	2013
154	Mongolia	45.1%	2013
155	Chile	45%	2013
156	Malta	44.9%	2013
157	Lithuania	44.6%	2013
158	Aruba	44.3%	2013
159	Armenia	44.1%	2013
=160	Costa Rica	44%	2013
=160	Serbia	44%	2013
	Eastern Europe average (profile)	44%	2013
162	Tunisia	43.6%	2013
163	Romania	43.3%	2013
164	Burma	43.1%	2013
165	Seychelles	42.6%	2013
166	Trinidad and Tobago	42.5%	2013
167	French Polynesia	42.4%	2013
168	Barbados	42.3%	2013
169	Brunei	42%	2013
=170	Cuba	41.9%	2013
=170	Ukraine	41.9%	2013
172	Lebanon	41.8%	2013
173	Poland	41.6%	2013
174	Vietnam	41.4%	2013
175	Cyprus	41.3%	2013
176	Western Sahara	41.2%	2013
177	Belarus	41.1%	2013
178	Iran	41%	2013
=179	Republic of Macedonia	40.9%	2013
=179	The Bahamas	40.9%	2013
181	Russia	40.5%	2013
182	Mauritius	39.8%	2013
183	Slovakia	38.9%	2013
184	Moldova	38.8%	2013
185	Thailand	38.6%	2013
186	Azerbaijan	38.5%	2013
187	Kuwait	37.2%	2013
188	South Korea	37.1%	2013
189	China	36.8%	2013
190	Oman	35.7%	2013
191	Singapore	35.6%	2013
192	Hong Kong	34.6%	2013
193	Bahrain	30.3%	2013
194	Macau	25.8%	2013
195	United Arab Emirates	18.6%	2013
196	Qatar	17.2%	2013

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