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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Nigeria was 85.96 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 92.76 in 1987 and 79.96 in 1960.

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 79.96
1961 80.67
1962 81.06
1963 81.23
1964 81.29
1965 81.26
1966 82.02
1967 82.56
1968 82.92
1969 83.16
1970 83.30
1971 84.11
1972 84.79
1973 85.32
1974 85.73
1975 86.02
1976 86.87
1977 87.42
1978 87.76
1979 87.99
1980 88.14
1981 89.33
1982 90.33
1983 91.11
1984 91.66
1985 91.95
1986 92.54
1987 92.76
1988 92.68
1989 92.33
1990 91.77
1991 91.67
1992 91.30
1993 90.71
1994 89.96
1995 89.09
1996 88.83
1997 88.39
1998 87.83
1999 87.23
2000 86.64
2001 86.77
2002 86.80
2003 86.77
2004 86.70
2005 86.62
2006 87.11
2007 87.45
2008 87.67
2009 87.81
2010 87.88
2011 88.24
2012 88.49
2013 88.59
2014 88.50
2015 88.20
2016 88.15
2017 87.84
2018 87.32
2019 86.67
2020 85.96

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