Australia vs United States: Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population)
Australia
28.2%
in 2025
United States
28.5%
in 2025
Australia rank
48th
United States rank
46th
Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population) over time
- Australia
- United States
How they compare
United States currently reports 28.5% against 28.2% in Australia, a difference of 0.3%.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was United States ahead.
Australia ranks 48th and United States ranks 46th of 218 countries.
Across the 7 decades both report, Australia averaged higher in 3 and United States in 4.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Australia | United States | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 13.7% | 15.3% | 1.6% | United States |
| 1970s | 13.7% | 16.0% | 2.3% | United States |
| 1980s | 15.5% | 17.5% | 2.0% | United States |
| 1990s | 17.6% | 18.7% | 1.1% | United States |
| 2000s | 19.1% | 18.2% | 0.9% | Australia |
| 2010s | 22.2% | 21.3% | 0.9% | Australia |
| 2020s | 26.7% | 26.4% | 0.2% | Australia |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher age dependency ratio, old, Australia or United States?
- United States, at 28.5% against 28.2% in Australia as of 2025.
- What is the difference in age dependency ratio, old between Australia and United States?
- 0.3%, with United States ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Australia and United States?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
- How do Australia and United States rank globally for age dependency ratio, old?
- Australia ranks 48th and United States ranks 46th of 218 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division, published as Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population). Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Age dependency ratio, old, is the ratio of older dependents--people 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.