North America vs Puerto Rico: Age dependency ratio, old
North America
28.8%
in 2025
Puerto Rico
39.8%
in 2025
North America rank
7th
Puerto Rico rank
4th
Age dependency ratio, old over time
- North America
- Puerto Rico
How they compare
Puerto Rico currently reports 39.8% against 28.8% in North America, a difference of 11.0%.
That makes Puerto Rico's figure about 1.4 times North America's.
The two have swapped places 1 time across 66 shared years of data; in 1960 it was North America ahead.
North America ranks 7th and Puerto Rico ranks 4th of 47 groups.
Across the 7 decades both report, North America averaged higher in 4 and Puerto Rico in 3.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | North America | Puerto Rico | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 15.1% | 10.7% | 4.4% | North America |
| 1970s | 15.7% | 12.7% | 2.9% | North America |
| 1980s | 17.2% | 13.7% | 3.5% | North America |
| 1990s | 18.6% | 16.1% | 2.5% | North America |
| 2000s | 18.3% | 20.9% | 2.6% | Puerto Rico |
| 2010s | 21.5% | 28.2% | 6.7% | Puerto Rico |
| 2020s | 26.7% | 37.5% | 10.8% | Puerto Rico |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher age dependency ratio, old, North America or Puerto Rico?
- Puerto Rico, at 39.8% against 28.8% in North America as of 2025.
- What is the difference in age dependency ratio, old between North America and Puerto Rico?
- 11.0%, with Puerto Rico ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for North America and Puerto Rico?
- 66 years are reported by both, from 1960 to 2025.
- How do North America and Puerto Rico rank globally for age dependency ratio, old?
- North America ranks 7th and Puerto Rico ranks 4th of 47 groups.
- 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.