Age Dependency Ratio — methodology

What this metric measures

People aged 65 and over per 100 people of working age (15 to 64), derived each quarter from estimated resident population by single year of age.

Why it matters: The ratio shows how many older Australians each working-age person supports, directly shaping the pressure on pensions, health and aged care.

Source & provenance

Publisher

Derived from ABS quarterly estimated resident population by single year of age (Cat. 3101.0)

Update frequency

quarterly

Licence

CC BY 4.0

How the score is computed

The score is a 0–100 normalisation of the latest observation, compared to a baseline window. The traffic-light rating (RAG) reflects both the absolute level and the recent trend.

Direction

Lower is better

Trend window

24 months

Baseline

Last 10 years

{
  "red_min_pct_of_baseline": 110,
  "amber_max_pct_of_baseline": 110,
  "green_max_pct_of_baseline": 95
}