Statizoid

Labour dependency ratio (ILO modelled estimates) by country

Imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. This indicator provides the ratio of dependents (persons aged 0 to 14 + persons aged 15 and above that are either...

Countries reporting
188
Highest
6.48
Sao Tome and Principe
Lowest
0.36
Qatar
Median
1.28
Years covered
37
1991–2027
Data points
10,188

What the numbers show

Labour dependency ratio (ILO modelled estimates) is currently reported for 188 countries. The highest value is 6.48 in Sao Tome and Principe; the lowest is 0.36 in Qatar.

The median across all reporting countries is 1.28, and the mean is 1.58.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 18.

Over the past decade 51 countries rose and 136 fell. The largest increase was in Samoa (up 32.9%), and the largest decrease in Bolivia, Plurinational State of (down 32.7%).

Labour dependency ratio: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Sao Tome and Principe 6.48 2027 down 5.2% falling
2 Somalia 5.81 2027 down 0.5% flat
3 Yemen 5.2 2027 down 5.0% rising
4 Djibouti 4.94 2027 down 5.8% falling
5 Afghanistan 4.31 2027 up 28.3% rising
6 Sudan 3.88 2022 up 9.5% rising
7 Palestine, State of 3.8 2022 down 6.0% falling
8 Mauritania 3.72 2027 down 3.8% rising
9 Iraq 3.38 2027 down 4.9% flat
10 Syrian Arab Republic 3.36 2027 down 17.0% rising
11 Eswatini 3.35 2027 up 8.9% flat
12 Tajikistan 3.33 2027 down 0.2% rising
13 Jordan 3.19 2027 down 11.6% falling
14 Samoa 3.03 2027 up 32.9% rising
15 Algeria 2.99 2027 up 5.4% falling
16 Nepal 2.92 2027 down 6.8% falling
17 Gabon 2.85 2027 down 1.0% falling
18 Gambia 2.69 2027 down 6.6% falling
19 Turkmenistan 2.6 2027 up 5.8% rising
20 South Africa 2.58 2027 up 5.2% rising
21 Lebanon 2.53 2023 up 15.6% falling
22 Libya 2.5 2027 down 4.3% falling
23 Egypt 2.47 2027 down 12.5% falling
24 Iran, Islamic Republic of 2.43 2027 up 2.1% falling
25 Tunisia 2.4 2027 up 3.6% falling
26 Guinea 2.34 2027 down 1.9% rising
27 Morocco 2.32 2027 down 0.9% falling
28 Namibia 2.31 2027 down 3.2% falling
29 Lesotho 2.16 2027 up 1.7% rising
30 Chad 2.16 2027 down 3.7% rising
31 Tonga 2.13 2027 up 9.2% rising
32 Senegal 2.12 2027 down 26.5% falling
33 Pakistan 2.12 2027 down 6.9% falling
34 Sierra Leone 2.08 2027 down 6.3% rising
35 Congo 2.01 2027 down 8.3% flat
36 Congo, Democratic Republic of the 2 2027 up 0.9% rising
37 Papua New Guinea 1.91 2027 down 11.7% falling
38 Guyana 1.91 2027 down 3.3% flat
39 Vanuatu 1.9 2027 up 1.2% rising
40 Comoros 1.9 2027 down 23.6% falling
41 Equatorial Guinea 1.88 2027 up 0.7% falling
42 Togo 1.87 2027 down 8.4% falling
43 Zambia 1.86 2027 down 16.2% falling
44 Botswana 1.8 2027 down 9.8% falling
45 Mali 1.8 2027 down 0.9% rising
46 Central African Republic 1.79 2027 down 2.7% rising
47 Malawi 1.79 2027 down 10.6% rising
48 Rwanda 1.78 2027 down 17.4% falling
49 Angola 1.77 2027 down 6.6% flat
50 Puerto Rico 1.77 2027 down 28.2% falling
51 Ghana 1.73 2027 up 15.4% flat
52 Sri Lanka 1.72 2027 up 11.3% falling
53 Cameroon 1.7 2027 up 4.4% rising
53 Uzbekistan 1.7 2027 up 3.4% falling
55 Suriname 1.69 2027 up 0.7% falling
56 Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of 1.69 2027 up 18.0% flat
57 Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.68 2027 down 14.2% falling
58 Zimbabwe 1.67 2027 down 10.1% falling
59 French Polynesia 1.65 2027 up 0.9% falling
60 Honduras 1.65 2027 up 11.4% falling
60 North Macedonia 1.65 2027 down 15.8% falling
62 Kyrgyzstan 1.63 2027 down 4.7% rising
63 Haiti 1.63 2027 down 1.6% falling
64 Cape Verde 1.59 2027 down 5.7% falling
65 Mongolia 1.59 2027 down 1.4% falling
66 South Sudan 1.58 2023 down 5.5% falling
67 Côte d'Ivoire 1.53 2027 down 10.6% falling
68 New Caledonia 1.53 2027 up 5.3% falling
69 Guinea-Bissau 1.53 2027 down 15.4% falling
70 Türkiye 1.51 2027 down 14.6% falling
71 Fiji 1.51 2027 down 3.9% falling
72 Belize 1.51 2027 up 7.4% falling
73 United States Virgin Islands 1.49 2027 up 11.7% rising
74 Western Sahara 1.49 2027 down 0.1% falling
75 Burkina Faso 1.47 2027 up 1.3% rising
75 Italy 1.47 2027 down 9.9% falling
77 Guatemala 1.47 2027 down 8.6% falling
78 Romania 1.46 2027 up 3.3% falling
79 Montenegro 1.45 2027 down 18.3% falling
80 Ethiopia 1.45 2027 up 6.3% rising
80 India 1.45 2027 down 21.8% falling
82 Myanmar 1.44 2027 up 19.0% rising
83 Armenia 1.43 2027 down 3.6% flat
84 Bangladesh 1.43 2027 down 8.4% falling
85 Kenya 1.42 2027 down 0.6% falling
86 Mozambique 1.41 2027 down 0.2% rising
87 Greece 1.39 2027 down 27.2% flat
88 Ukraine 1.39 2021 up 11.5% flat
89 France 1.35 2027 down 6.3% falling
90 Croatia 1.34 2027 down 14.3% falling
91 Belgium 1.33 2027 down 7.2% falling
92 Cuba 1.32 2027 up 11.2% falling
93 Niger 1.3 2027 down 23.2% flat
94 Guam 1.28 2027 unchanged flat
95 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1.27 2027 down 8.3% falling
96 Burundi 1.25 2027 down 12.5% flat
97 Philippines 1.25 2027 down 20.2% falling
98 Costa Rica 1.24 2027 down 5.6% falling
99 Benin 1.24 2027 down 12.3% falling
100 Spain 1.23 2027 down 14.8% falling
101 Georgia 1.23 2027 up 1.1% rising
102 Timor-Leste 1.22 2027 down 18.8% falling
102 Uganda 1.22 2027 down 29.0% falling
104 Nicaragua 1.2 2027 down 8.5% falling
105 Trinidad and Tobago 1.19 2027 up 9.7% falling
106 Liberia 1.17 2027 down 10.9% falling
107 Mexico 1.17 2027 down 13.8% falling
108 Kazakhstan 1.17 2027 up 6.5% falling
109 El Salvador 1.17 2027 down 19.3% falling
110 Dominican Republic 1.16 2027 down 15.9% falling
111 Bulgaria 1.16 2027 down 6.4% falling
111 Finland 1.16 2027 down 5.3% falling
111 Panama 1.16 2027 down 3.9% falling
114 Lao People's Democratic Republic 1.16 2027 down 25.9% falling
115 Argentina 1.16 2027 down 20.9% falling
116 Israel 1.15 2027 down 5.8% falling
117 Eritrea 1.14 2027 down 13.1% falling
118 Azerbaijan 1.13 2027 up 0.2% flat
118 Colombia 1.13 2027 down 3.8% falling
120 Mauritius 1.12 2027 down 5.1% falling
121 Portugal 1.12 2027 down 3.9% flat
122 Slovenia 1.11 2027 down 3.1% falling
123 Serbia 1.1 2027 down 27.7% falling
124 Chile 1.09 2027 down 2.7% falling
125 Tanzania, United Republic of 1.09 2027 down 6.6% flat
126 Slovakia 1.09 2027 down 5.6% falling
127 Luxembourg 1.09 2027 down 5.5% falling
128 Latvia 1.08 2027 down 4.6% falling
129 Poland 1.08 2027 down 6.2% falling
130 Brunei Darussalam 1.08 2027 down 9.0% falling
131 Albania 1.08 2027 down 25.1% falling
132 Austria 1.08 2027 up 3.7% falling
133 Brazil 1.07 2027 down 15.4% falling
133 Ecuador 1.07 2027 down 4.0% falling
135 Nigeria 1.07 2027 down 18.6% flat
136 United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 1.07 2027 up 1.9% falling
136 Saudi Arabia 1.07 2027 down 24.2% falling
138 Paraguay 1.07 2027 down 5.8% falling
139 Hong Kong, China 1.06 2027 up 14.5% falling
140 United States of America 1.05 2027 down 1.0% flat
141 Russian Federation 1.04 2027 down 0.9% falling
142 Sweden 1.03 2027 up 0.6% falling
143 Hungary 1.02 2027 down 7.8% falling
144 Germany 1.02 2027 up 3.9% falling
145 Czechia 1.01 2027 down 1.6% falling
146 Barbados 1.01 2027 down 1.9% falling
147 Uruguay 1.01 2027 down 11.5% falling
148 Lithuania 1 2027 down 7.8% falling
149 Maldives 0.999 2027 down 23.3% falling
150 Oman 0.989 2027 up 14.1% falling
151 Estonia 0.983 2027 down 2.2% falling
152 Indonesia 0.98 2027 down 12.7% falling
153 Bhutan 0.979 2027 down 19.4% falling
154 Canada 0.977 2027 up 4.2% falling
155 Malaysia 0.975 2027 down 13.2% falling
156 Ireland 0.97 2027 down 18.5% falling
157 Belarus 0.967 2027 down 0.7% falling
158 Taiwan, China 0.961 2027 down 7.1% falling
159 Madagascar 0.956 2027 down 7.2% falling
160 Saint Lucia 0.949 2027 down 22.5% falling
161 Denmark 0.935 2027 down 11.9% flat
162 China 0.915 2027 up 4.5% rising
163 Norway 0.912 2027 down 2.3% falling
164 Australia 0.909 2027 down 9.1% falling
165 Cyprus 0.889 2027 down 17.7% falling
166 Switzerland 0.878 2027 up 9.5% falling
166 Peru 0.878 2027 up 4.2% falling
168 Solomon Islands 0.87 2027 down 10.3% falling
169 Malta 0.853 2027 down 22.6% falling
170 Netherlands 0.834 2027 down 7.0% falling
171 Bolivia, Plurinational State of 0.823 2027 down 32.7% falling
172 New Zealand 0.821 2027 down 3.3% falling
173 Bahamas 0.817 2027 down 7.4% falling
174 Viet Nam 0.806 2027 up 7.9% falling
175 Jamaica 0.805 2027 down 27.8% falling
175 Japan 0.805 2027 down 15.1% falling
177 Republic of Korea 0.78 2027 down 13.0% falling
178 Thailand 0.775 2027 down 4.0% falling
179 Macau, China 0.769 2027 up 11.8% falling
180 Bahrain 0.758 2027 up 2.0% falling
181 Republic of Moldova 0.726 2027 down 13.6% falling
182 Cambodia 0.712 2027 down 11.1% falling
183 Kuwait 0.697 2027 down 9.8% falling
184 Iceland 0.678 2027 up 2.4% falling
185 Singapore 0.659 2027 down 9.6% falling
186 Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 0.555 2027 down 1.9% falling
187 United Arab Emirates 0.544 2027 down 3.5% falling
188 Qatar 0.36 2027 up 10.1% falling

Regions and income groups

Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.

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Labour dependency ratio by country. Statizoid, drawing on International Labour Organization. Retrieved 06 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/labour-dependency-ratio-ilo-modelled-estimates/

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About this data

Indicator
Labour dependency ratio (ILO modelled estimates)
Source
International Labour Organization
Licence
ILO Terms of Use (attribution required)
Coverage
276 places, 10,188 data points, 1991–2027
Last refreshed

Imputed observations are not based on national data, are subject to high uncertainty and should not be used for country comparisons or rankings. This series is based on the 13th ICLS definitions. This indicator provides the ratio of dependents (persons aged 0 to 14 + persons aged 15 and above that are either outside the labour force or unemployed) to total employment. For more information, refer to the ILO Modelled Estimates (ILOEST) database description.