Namibia's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) was 61.54% in 2025, the latest year in the World Bank's World Development Indicators. That is up 0.65 percentage points from 60.89% in 2015.
Key figures
| Value | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Latest | 61.54% | 2025 |
| Five years earlier | 62.65% | 2020 |
| Ten years earlier | 60.89% | 2015 |
| Highest | 96.94% | 1982 |
| Lowest | 60.89% | 2015 |
| Average since 2016 | 62.26% | 2016–2025 |
| First recorded | 79.13% | 1960 |
What the numbers say
In 2025, Namibia's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) fell 0.77 percentage points on 2024 (from 62.31% to 61.54%).
Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.5 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.72 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.11 percentage points in 1978 and the biggest yearly fall was 5.23 percentage points in 1989. 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 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 24% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.
Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.
How it compares
In 2025, Namibia had the 45th 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 | |
|---|---|---|
| Namibia | 61.54% | 2025 |
| World | 37.44% | 2025 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 71.61% | 2025 |
| Lower middle income | 45.77% | 2025 |
Closest to Namibia in the 2025 ranking
- Rwanda — 41st of 217: 62.79%
- Equatorial Guinea — 42nd of 217: 62.7%
- Naoero — 43rd of 217: 62.1%
- Solomon Islands — 45th of 217: 61.16%
- Pakistan — 46th of 217: 61.02%
- Gabon — 47th of 217: 60.78%
What this measures
Age dependency ratio, young, is the ratio of younger dependents--people younger than 15--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, young (% of working-age population) |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 61.54 |
| 2024 | 62.31 |
| 2023 | 63.06 |
| 2022 | 63.51 |
| 2021 | 63.21 |
| 2020 | 62.65 |
| 2019 | 62.19 |
| 2018 | 61.78 |
| 2017 | 61.33 |
| 2016 | 61 |
| 2015 |
Age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) in nearby economies
- Angola — 83.19% (2025)
- Benin — 74.22% (2025)
- Botswana — 49.96% (2025)
- Burkina Faso — 73.33% (2025)
- Burundi — 82.25% (2025)
- Cabo Verde — 36.24% (2025)
- Cameroon — 73.34% (2025)
- Central African Republic — 99.11% (2025)
- Chad — 88.52% (2025)
More health data for Namibia
- Population ages 00-04, female (% of female population) — 12.58% (2025)
- Population ages 00-04, male (% of male population) — 13.23% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female — 568,676 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, female (% of female population) — 35.94% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male — 564,861 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) — 37.4% (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, total — 1.13 million (2025)
- Population ages 0-14 (% of total population) — 36.65% (2025)
- Population ages 05-09, female (% of female population) — 12.45% (2025)
Reading data like this
Questions people ask
- What is Namibia's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population)?
- 61.54% in 2025, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).
- How has it changed since 1960?
- It is down 17.59 percentage points from 79.13% in 1960. The highest value was 96.94% in 1982 and the lowest 60.89% in 2015.
- How does Namibia rank?
- 45th highest of 217 economies with data for 2025.
- Is the latest change in age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) unusual for Namibia?
- In 2025, Namibia's age dependency ratio, young (% of working-age population) fell 0.77 percentage points on 2024 (from 62.31% to 61.54%). Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2024), the average change was −0.5 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.72 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.
Source
World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SP.POP.DPND.YG, 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.
Want to ask your own questions of data like this? Try AnalyzeIt: upload a file or ask about public data in plain words, and every figure comes with its working.
Legal entity
Devansh Yadav
Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Governing law: Courts at Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh
Phone: +91 8433475698
Legal: legal@analyzeit.in