Colombia's age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) was 43.25% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is down 2.94 percentage points from 46.2% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 43.25% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 43.12% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 46.2% | 2015 |
| Highest | 100.26% | 1964 |
| Lowest | 42.78% | 2022 |
| Average since 2016 | 43.58% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 98.56% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Colombia's age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) rose 0.29 percentage points on 2024 (from 42.96% to 43.25%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.69 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.61 percentage points in 1961 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.91 percentage points in 1975. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.
From 2016 to 2025 the straight-line trend is downward, about 0.26 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 67% of the movement over 10 observed years.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Colombia had the 193rd highest value of the 217 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Colombia | 43.25% | 2025 |
| World | 54.46% | 2025 |
| Latin America & Caribbean | 47.81% | 2025 |
| Upper middle income | 46.03% | 2025 |
Closest to Colombia in the 2025 ranking
- French Polynesia — 189th of 217: 43.68%
- Azerbaijan — 190th of 217: 43.61%
- China — 191st of 217: 43.51%
- St. Kitts and Nevis — 193rd of 217: 42.98%
- Antigua and Barbuda — 194th of 217: 42.46%
- Palau — 195th of 217: 42.39%
What this measures
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.
Limitations: 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.
Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.
All 66 values
| Year | Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 43.25 |
| 2024 | 42.96 |
| 2023 | 42.8 |
| 2022 | 42.78 |
| 2021 | 42.88 |
| 2020 | 43.12 |
| 2019 | 43.5 |
| 2018 | 44.09 |
| 2017 | 44.84 |
| 2016 | 45.57 |
| 2015 |
Age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) in nearby economies
- Antigua and Barbuda — 42.46% (2025)
- Argentina — 50.72% (2025)
- Aruba — 52.16% (2025)
- Bahamas, The — 42.13% (2025)
- Barbados — 51.86% (2025)
- Belize — 45.98% (2025)
- Bolivia — 54.27% (2025)
- Brazil — 44.65% (2025)
- British Virgin Islands — 31.91% (2025)
- Cayman Islands
More health data for Colombia
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 6.4% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 6.85% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 5.23 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 19.33% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 5.45 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 20.68% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 10.68 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 19.99% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 6.39% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Colombia's age dependency ratio (% of working-age population)?
- 43.25% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is down 55.31 percentage points from 98.56% in 1960. The highest value was 100.26% in 1964 and the lowest 42.78% in 2022.
- How does Colombia rank?
- 193rd highest of 217 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) unusual for Colombia?
- In 2025, Colombia's age dependency ratio (% of working-age population) rose 0.29 percentage points on 2024 (from 42.96% to 43.25%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.69 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.29 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.3 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SP.POP.DPND, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division; Staff estimates, World Bank (WB) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.
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