China's Age Dependency Ratio: Old

AGE DEPENDENCY RATIO FOR ELDERLY PEOPLE (%)


The old-age dependency ratio is the ratio of elderly dependents (who are generally economically inactive and 65 years and older), compared to the number of people of working age (15-64-year-olds).

A high dependency ratio means those of working age, and the overall economy, face a greater burden in supporting the aging population.

China's age dependency ratio for elderly people was: 21.2% reported in 2024 (most recent observation). This is a high value against a global average of 16.0%. A higher ratio indicates more financial stress on working people, possible political instability and an elevated investment risk factor.

China's data is highlighted in the table below, use the filter and sort order options to allow easy comparison with other countries.

Data source: World Bank, Washington D.C.


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  Age Dependency Ratio: Old
Country: 1980
 
1990
 
2000
 
2010
 
2024
 
2030
 
2050
 
Japan 13.4 17.4 25.6 36.4 50.7 53.3 73.1
Portugal 17.9 20.5 23.9 27.9 39.1 44.9 61.8
Finland 17.7 19.9 22.3 26.1 38.9 42.2 48.2
Italy 20.5 21.8 27.0 31.2 38.8 45.8 70.4
Greece 20.0 20.4 25.4 28.9 38.1 41.9 65.1
Croatia 17.1 16.9 23.7 26.8 36.9 41.3 54.3
Germany 23.7 21.5 24.2 31.3 36.9 44.2 53.5
France 21.9 21.2 24.6 25.9 36.1 40.4 48.5
Serbia 15.1 16.3 23.8 25.5 36.0 39.4 50.3
Bulgaria 17.9 19.8 24.5 26.5 34.7 37.0 51.8
Latvia 19.4 17.6 22.3 27.0 34.6 38.5 49.7
Bosnia and Herzegovina 9.3 9.6 15.9 21.8 34.3 41.6 62.6
Slovenia 17.1 15.6 19.8 23.6 34.3 39.6 58.1
Hong Kong 9.4 12.3 15.5 17.7 33.9 46.5 96.5
Estonia 18.9 17.6 22.3 25.9 33.8 37.4 52.2
Sweden 25.4 27.7 26.8 28.1 33.3 35.4 42.9
Denmark 22.3 23.1 22.2 25.3 32.9 36.8 42.8
Czechia 21.3 19.0 19.7 22.0 32.7 35.4 52.4
Hungary 20.7 20.2 21.8 24.0 32.5 33.5 46.6
Belgium 22.1 22.3 25.6 26.0 32.4 37.0 47.7
Spain 17.7 20.3 24.1 24.8 32.1 38.4 68.8
Netherlands 17.4 18.5 19.9 22.8 31.8 36.9 43.8
Austria 24.0 22.1 22.9 26.2 31.6 38.6 54.1
Romania 16.9 16.0 19.9 23.2 31.1 31.5 48.1
Lithuania 17.3 16.3 20.9 26.1 31.0 36.3 47.7
Poland 15.4 15.6 17.9 19.0 31.0 34.9 56.1
Switzerland 20.9 21.3 22.8 24.7 30.8 36.9 53.3
United Kingdom 23.4 24.4 24.4 24.8 30.8 33.2 40.9
Canada 13.8 16.5 18.4 20.4 30.4 35.7 42.2
Malta 14.5 15.8 17.9 21.7 30.3 33.7 51.2
Norway 23.4 25.2 23.4 22.6 28.9 32.6 45.2
Slovak Republic 16.5 15.9 16.4 17.3 28.2 32.8 52.9
Ukraine 17.8 18.1 19.5 21.0 28.2 31.4 47.8
Taiwan 6.2 9.0 12.0 14.6 27.8 37.2 73.1
North Macedonia 9.7 10.8 14.6 16.8 27.7 32.3 46.5
United States 16.7 18.6 18.3 19.0 27.7 32.1 37.9
Australia 14.7 16.5 18.4 20.1 27.5 31.3 39.5
Korea, Rep. 6.2 7.1 9.9 15.1 27.5 37.7 75.6
Belarus 15.8 16.1 19.9 19.6 26.8 31.6 46.0
New Zealand 15.4 16.8 18.0 19.6 26.6 31.0 39.5
Russia 14.9 14.9 17.7 17.6 26.2 30.3 39.4
Albania 8.8 8.7 11.6 16.2 25.5 32.4 45.5
Moldova 11.2 13.1 15.2 14.9 25.3 29.3 35.1
Georgia 13.7 13.6 19.0 20.3 24.6 27.5 33.4
Uruguay 16.8 18.5 20.9 22.3 24.4 26.6 37.4
Ireland 18.3 18.5 16.7 16.8 24.2 27.3 44.9
Iceland 15.8 16.5 17.8 18.1 23.5 26.9 38.4
Luxembourg 20.0 19.3 20.9 20.5 22.5 27.1 42.9
Thailand 5.7 6.0 8.8 12.0 22.0 28.7 50.2
China 7.4 8.1 10.3 11.9 21.2 26.4 52.3
Cyprus 14.8 14.8 14.7 15.8 21.1 24.4 43.4
Israel 15.1 15.5 15.7 15.9 20.9 21.6 25.9
Chile 7.7 9.4 12.6 14.6 20.5 24.8 43.1
Armenia 8.2 7.8 14.2 15.3 20.4 26.9 39.0
Mauritius 7.0 8.2 9.0 10.0 18.9 24.8 41.8
Argentina 12.5 14.1 15.5 16.3 18.8 20.1 30.9
Sri Lanka 7.5 9.1 9.3 11.1 18.4 21.6 32.5
Singapore 6.9 7.7 8.3 9.3 18.3 23.7 41.7
Costa Rica 6.6 7.6 8.8 10.9 17.7 22.6 40.7
Trinidad and Tobago 7.1 7.3 7.1 8.5 17.7 22.9 38.1
Bahamas, The 7.0 8.0 10.2 13.6 16.7 20.4 32.9
Brazil 6.1 6.8 7.9 9.7 15.9 20.0 35.8
Lebanon 8.0 6.9 8.1 8.8 15.9 18.4 25.7
Türkiye 8.4 8.0 9.1 10.8 15.1 18.4 35.2
Tunisia 6.7 7.2 8.5 9.4 14.3 18.0 32.7
Panama 6.8 7.2 7.9 9.7 14.2 17.3 29.4
Colombia 6.1 6.5 7.2 8.8 14.0 18.1 31.7
Kazakhstan 12.0 9.2 10.2 9.5 14.0 17.0 22.4
Peru 7.7 6.2 7.1 11.3 13.8 16.0 27.4
Vietnam 9.8 9.8 9.6 8.7 13.4 17.3 31.7
Ecuador 6.8 6.4 7.9 9.3 12.4 14.6 26.2
Azerbaijan 6.3 6.4 8.6 8.2 12.3 17.1 27.7
Mexico 5.8 7.2 8.3 9.5 12.3 14.8 25.9
Morocco 5.1 5.4 7.0 7.9 12.3 15.0 25.4
El Salvador 5.1 5.1 8.0 11.0 12.2 13.5 21.5
Dominican Republic 5.6 6.1 7.1 7.9 12.0 14.7 23.0
Suriname 7.8 5.3 7.2 9.2 11.9 15.0 23.0
Jamaica 14.1 12.8 10.0 8.9 11.2 14.5 28.4
Malaysia 5.9 6.0 6.3 7.4 11.0 13.3 25.1
Indonesia 6.6 6.7 7.8 8.9 10.7 13.1 23.1
Myanmar 7.3 7.6 7.9 7.9 10.7 12.7 20.1
Guyana 7.1 6.7 6.5 7.3 10.5 12.7 16.8
India 7.0 7.0 7.3 7.8 10.5 12.4 21.7
Algeria 6.5 5.9 7.1 7.2 10.4 12.6 25.7
Cabo Verde 11.4 9.4 9.1 7.8 10.1 12.6 24.3
Paraguay 7.9 6.9 7.0 8.0 10.1 12.0 18.7
Nepal 6.3 6.6 6.9 8.0 10.0 10.6 16.0
Bangladesh 6.6 6.5 5.8 6.8 9.9 11.4 20.3
South Africa 6.9 6.8 7.9 8.0 9.9 11.6 16.8
Cambodia 5.9 5.7 5.2 6.2 9.6 11.6 17.7
Brunei 4.7 4.1 4.2 4.8 9.5 12.7 29.7
Uzbekistan 7.6 6.2 7.9 7.2 9.3 11.7 16.5
Kyrgyzstan 8.2 8.4 9.0 6.8 9.2 11.5 15.5
Bhutan 4.6 5.3 6.5 7.8 8.9 10.0 22.9
Bolivia 7.4 7.3 9.3 9.1 8.7 9.6 14.6
Nicaragua 5.1 5.5 6.3 7.2 8.4 9.9 19.2
Mongolia 9.3 7.0 5.6 5.6 8.2 10.7 19.6
Philippines 4.9 5.1 5.2 5.5 8.2 9.9 16.1
Egypt 7.3 7.0 6.8 6.3 8.1 9.3 14.9
Comoros 8.9 8.3 8.6 7.8 7.7 7.5 10.3
Guatemala 5.2 6.5 7.1 6.9 7.6 8.4 14.0
Libya 4.8 5.0 5.7 6.1 7.4 9.5 24.7
Haiti 7.6 7.1 6.4 6.5 7.3 8.0 12.3
Pakistan 6.1 6.5 6.5 6.5 7.3 7.8 9.9
Laos 6.4 6.6 6.3 6.3 7.2 8.4 14.4
Turkmenistan 7.7 6.4 6.8 5.7 7.1 9.5 16.3
Jordan 5.2 4.5 4.7 5.7 7.0 9.1 18.6
Gabon 12.6 11.1 9.1 7.2 6.9 7.3 11.4
Eswatini 6.1 5.0 4.4 5.1 6.8 7.2 10.9
Honduras 6.5 6.3 5.5 5.2 6.8 7.8 15.1
Rwanda 4.9 4.7 4.2 5.0 6.7 7.0 9.6
Zimbabwe 7.2 6.2 6.3 5.8 6.5 5.5 8.5
Tajikistan 7.1 6.7 6.7 5.3 6.4 8.3 12.1
Botswana 5.9 6.2 5.7 5.4 6.3 6.9 11.2
Lesotho 7.0 7.8 8.1 7.2 6.3 6.1 8.6
Guinea 7.7 8.0 7.7 7.0 6.2 6.3 7.2
Namibia 8.3 6.4 5.7 5.7 6.2 7.1 10.6
Senegal 5.4 5.9 6.1 6.6 6.2 6.4 9.3
Ghana 5.2 5.0 5.8 5.9 6.1 7.1 11.5
Congo, Dem. Rep 5.4 5.4 5.8 6.1 6.0 6.1 6.0
Mauritania 5.9 6.0 5.8 6.7 6.0 6.1 7.6
Madagascar 6.8 5.7 5.4 5.0 5.9 6.4 8.5
Sudan 4.9 5.6 5.7 4.9 5.9 6.6 8.4
Liberia 5.5 5.7 5.8 6.1 5.8 5.9 7.7
Benin 8.6 7.2 6.2 5.8 5.6 5.9 7.7
Ethiopia 5.5 5.4 5.3 5.3 5.6 6.3 8.3
Tanzania 5.9 5.9 5.3 5.4 5.6 5.4 7.3
Togo 5.8 5.7 5.1 4.9 5.6 6.0 8.5
Guinea-Bissau 9.5 10.5 6.9 5.3 5.5 5.7 8.7
Nigeria 6.1 6.1 5.7 5.7 5.5 5.4 7.0
Papua New Guinea 2.4 3.9 4.4 4.5 5.5 6.7 11.0
Sierra Leone 7.7 7.4 6.7 6.1 5.5 5.8 8.3
Angola 4.4 4.3 5.2 5.2 5.4 5.7 6.7
Gambia 7.7 7.9 6.0 5.0 5.4 6.3 8.2
Congo, Rep. 6.5 6.4 5.7 4.8 5.3 6.0 8.9
Mozambique 6.0 5.9 5.2 5.2 5.2 4.7 5.7
Niger 3.7 4.2 4.5 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.7
Bahrain 3.4 3.3 3.3 2.8 5.0 6.4 11.4
Cameroon 7.6 7.2 6.4 5.6 5.0 5.2 7.6
Kenya 4.5 4.4 4.3 3.9 4.9 5.4 8.6
Burkina Faso 6.8 6.9 5.8 5.2 4.8 4.9 7.2
Burundi 6.2 5.8 4.9 4.3 4.8 4.6 7.4
Cote d'Ivoire 4.9 4.9 4.7 4.3 4.6 4.9 7.7
Malawi 6.1 7.6 6.6 7.2 4.6 4.5 7.6
Mali 6.8 7.5 6.4 5.6 4.6 4.3 5.8
Yemen, Rep. 6.3 6.2 5.7 5.1 4.5 4.8 8.1
Afghanistan 4.9 4.5 4.7 4.7 4.4 4.6 6.3
Central African Republic 7.4 5.7 4.4 3.6 4.4 4.6 3.4
Chad 7.6 7.0 5.8 4.6 4.1 4.3 5.5
Saudi Arabia 4.1 3.6 3.7 3.4 4.0 5.0 11.4
Uganda 6.1 6.3 5.5 4.0 4.0 4.4 6.6
Kuwait 2.3 2.9 2.2 2.4 3.9 4.7 8.8
Oman 5.8 4.5 4.2 3.8 3.6 4.0 8.9
Zambia 6.7 5.9 4.8 3.5 3.4 4.0 7.6
United Arab Emirates 1.7 1.5 1.6 1.7 2.2 2.8 2.6
Qatar 1.9 1.5 1.7 1.0 2.0 2.1 3.7

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