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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Singapore was 34.50 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 87.59 in 1963 and 26.99 in 2010.

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 82.73
1961 85.47
1962 87.10
1963 87.59
1964 87.17
1965 86.15
1966 83.77
1967 81.30
1968 78.68
1969 75.81
1970 72.73
1971 69.70
1972 66.86
1973 64.11
1974 61.32
1975 58.47
1976 56.17
1977 53.49
1978 50.76
1979 48.38
1980 46.56
1981 44.88
1982 43.86
1983 43.25
1984 42.68
1985 41.96
1986 41.08
1987 39.94
1988 38.74
1989 37.75
1990 37.10
1991 36.72
1992 36.46
1993 36.28
1994 36.07
1995 35.81
1996 35.84
1997 35.57
1998 34.98
1999 34.23
2000 33.50
2001 33.54
2002 33.57
2003 33.39
2004 32.92
2005 32.28
2006 31.49
2007 30.48
2008 29.24
2009 27.99
2010 26.99
2011 27.23
2012 27.48
2013 27.60
2014 27.61
2015 27.68
2016 28.30
2017 29.52
2018 31.13
2019 32.85
2020 34.50

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