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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Switzerland was 51.64 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 54.38 in 1973 and 46.14 in 1989.

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 52.27
1961 52.80
1962 53.01
1963 52.99
1964 52.86
1965 52.69
1966 52.99
1967 53.24
1968 53.47
1969 53.65
1970 53.74
1971 54.10
1972 54.32
1973 54.38
1974 54.28
1975 53.98
1976 53.73
1977 53.36
1978 52.82
1979 52.08
1980 51.20
1981 50.24
1982 49.19
1983 48.18
1984 47.31
1985 46.65
1986 46.42
1987 46.25
1988 46.15
1989 46.14
1990 46.26
1991 46.48
1992 46.83
1993 47.22
1994 47.56
1995 47.77
1996 48.19
1997 48.46
1998 48.59
1999 48.63
2000 48.61
2001 48.40
2002 48.12
2003 47.81
2004 47.49
2005 47.22
2006 47.00
2007 46.84
2008 46.76
2009 46.79
2010 46.95
2011 47.18
2012 47.49
2013 47.89
2014 48.34
2015 48.79
2016 49.39
2017 49.93
2018 50.45
2019 51.01
2020 51.64

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