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

The latest value for Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in Spain was 52.39 as of 2020. Over the past 60 years, the value for this indicator has fluctuated between 60.89 in 1972 and 44.77 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 55.22
1961 55.80
1962 56.14
1963 56.40
1964 56.77
1965 57.32
1966 57.92
1967 58.65
1968 59.42
1969 60.11
1970 60.64
1971 60.80
1972 60.89
1973 60.87
1974 60.75
1975 60.53
1976 60.52
1977 60.34
1978 59.99
1979 59.49
1980 58.82
1981 58.17
1982 57.31
1983 56.33
1984 55.36
1985 54.45
1986 53.43
1987 52.58
1988 51.80
1989 50.99
1990 50.12
1991 49.35
1992 48.52
1993 47.71
1994 47.04
1995 46.57
1996 46.24
1997 46.01
1998 45.89
1999 45.81
2000 45.78
2001 45.42
2002 45.12
2003 44.90
2004 44.79
2005 44.77
2006 45.12
2007 45.52
2008 45.95
2009 46.37
2010 46.73
2011 47.65
2012 48.41
2013 49.07
2014 49.76
2015 50.50
2016 50.77
2017 51.17
2018 51.62
2019 52.03
2020 52.39

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