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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Ireland was 54.82 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 72.95 in 1960 and 44.33 in 2005.

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 72.95
1961 72.94
1962 72.91
1963 72.82
1964 72.67
1965 72.48
1966 72.39
1967 72.14
1968 71.82
1969 71.63
1970 71.67
1971 71.20
1972 71.09
1973 71.19
1974 71.24
1975 71.12
1976 71.43
1977 71.35
1978 70.99
1979 70.55
1980 70.10
1981 69.91
1982 69.81
1983 69.65
1984 69.24
1985 68.49
1986 67.99
1987 67.13
1988 65.97
1989 64.64
1990 63.26
1991 61.32
1992 59.52
1993 57.78
1994 56.03
1995 54.30
1996 52.54
1997 50.87
1998 49.33
1999 48.04
2000 47.03
2001 46.04
2002 45.29
2003 44.76
2004 44.45
2005 44.33
2006 44.60
2007 44.98
2008 45.47
2009 46.03
2010 46.62
2011 47.92
2012 49.21
2013 50.50
2014 51.78
2015 53.05
2016 53.62
2017 54.11
2018 54.49
2019 54.73
2020 54.82

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