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Old-Age Dependency Ratio

People 65 and older for every 100 of working age.

27.7%
Percent of working-age population · latest, Jan 2024
vs prior month ▲ 0.9 pp
vs year ago ▲ 0.9 pp
1960-61 Recession · Apr 1960 – Feb 19611969-70 Recession · Dec 1969 – Nov 19701973-75 Recession · Nov 1973 – Mar 19751980 Recession · Jan 1980 – Jul 19801981-82 Recession · Jul 1981 – Nov 19821990-91 Recession · Jul 1990 – Mar 19912001 Recession · Mar 2001 – Nov 2001Global Financial Crisis · Dec 2007 – Jun 2009COVID-19 Recession · Feb 2020 – Apr 202016%18%20%22%24%26%196019701980199020002010202027.7%

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Source: FRED · SPPOPDPNDOLUSA · series · Jan 1960 to Jan 2024 · latest-revised

Reading it. A demographic ratio, not a labor-market reading: how many older dependents there are for every 100 people of working age. Rises as the population ages. World Bank data on FRED; annual.

About the bands. Shaded spans are NBER-dated US recessions, drawn as factual overlays. They mark when the economy contracted, not why. Lining an event or policy up with a move on this chart is not evidence that it caused the move.

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