Age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

Korea, Democratic People's Republic of: Age dependency ratio, old was 18.6% in 2025. ▲ Rising

Latest (2025)
18.6%
Change on year
up 2.9%
World rank
79th
of 218 countries
All-time high
18.6%
in 2025
All-time low
5.5%
in 1960
Years of data
66
1960–2025

Age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, 1960–2025

5101520196019922025

Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division. Measured in % of working-age population.

Analysis

In 2025, age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of stood at 18.6%. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 2.9% on the previous year and up 17.6% over ten years.

Over the whole period, age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of peaked at 18.6% in 2025 and was at its lowest, 5.5%, in 1960.

That places Korea, Democratic People's Republic of 79th out of 218 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.

Age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, year by year

Annual values for Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population) in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of, 1960 to 2025.
Year % of working-age population Change
1960 5.5%
1961 5.6% +1.1%
1962 5.7% +0.9%
1963 5.7% +0.9%
1964 5.8% +0.9%
1965 5.8% +0.8%
1966 5.9% +1.4%
1967 6.0% +1.9%
1968 6.1% +1.5%
1969 6.1% +0.8%
1970 6.1% +0.2%
1971 6.1% +0.0%
1972 6.1% -0.5%
1973 6.1% -1.0%
1974 6.0% -0.7%
1975 6.0% -0.4%
1976 6.0% -0.2%
1977 6.0% -0.1%
1978 6.0% -0.3%
1979 5.9% -0.4%
1980 5.9% -0.3%
1981 5.9% -0.1%
1982 5.9% +0.0%
1983 5.9% +0.3%
1984 6.0% +0.7%
1985 6.0% +0.8%
1986 6.1% +1.1%
1987 6.2% +1.2%
1988 6.2% +1.6%
1989 6.4% +2.1%
1990 6.5% +2.4%
1991 6.7% +2.7%
1992 6.9% +3.0%
1993 7.1% +3.2%
1994 7.4% +3.6%
1995 7.7% +3.6%
1996 7.9% +3.4%
1997 8.2% +3.7%
1998 8.5% +4.1%
1999 8.9% +4.6%
2000 9.4% +5.0%
2001 9.9% +5.1%
2002 10.4% +5.3%
2003 11.0% +5.6%
2004 11.6% +5.6%
2005 12.2% +4.9%
2006 12.7% +4.3%
2007 13.1% +3.7%
2008 13.6% +3.2%
2009 13.9% +2.8%
2010 14.3% +2.5%
2011 14.7% +2.5%
2012 15.0% +2.4%
2013 15.3% +2.0%
2014 15.5% +1.6%
2015 15.8% +1.7%
2016 15.8% +0.1%
2017 15.6% -1.5%
2018 15.5% -0.6%
2019 15.6% +0.7%
2020 15.9% +1.7%
2021 16.2% +2.0%
2022 16.7% +3.2%
2023 17.4% +4.3%
2024 18.1% +3.6%
2025 18.6% +2.9%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 5.8% 5.5% 6.1% 10
1970s 6.0% 5.9% 6.1% 10
1980s 6.1% 5.9% 6.4% 10
1990s 7.6% 6.5% 8.9% 10
2000s 11.8% 9.4% 13.9% 10
2010s 15.3% 14.3% 15.8% 10
2020s 17.1% 15.9% 18.6% 6

Countries ranked near Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

  1. 76 Dominica 19.1% compare
  2. 77 Argentina 19.0% compare
  3. 78 Sri Lanka 19.0% compare
  4. 80 Trinidad and Tobago 18.6% compare
  5. 81 Costa Rica 18.5% compare
  6. 82 Grenada 18.5% compare

See the full ranking of 266 places →

More health data for Korea, Democratic People's Republic of

All data for Korea, Democratic People's Republic of →

Frequently asked questions

What is age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
Age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of was 18.6% in 2025, according to World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division.
What is the highest age dependency ratio, old recorded in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
The highest recorded value was 18.6% in 2025.
What is the lowest age dependency ratio, old recorded in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
The lowest recorded value was 5.5% in 1960.
How does Korea, Democratic People's Republic of rank for age dependency ratio, old?
Korea, Democratic People's Republic of ranks 79th out of 218 countries with data for 2025.
Is age dependency ratio, old rising or falling in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of?
Over the last ten years it is up 17.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Korea, Democratic People's Republic of data come from?
The figures come from World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division, published as part of Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).

Share, cite or embed this page

Cite this page

Age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People's Republic of. Statizoid, drawing on World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division. Retrieved 07 September 2026, from https://health.statizoid.com/stat/age-dependency-ratio-old-percent-of-working-age-population/korea-dem-people-s-rep/

Embed or link this data

Paste this into a page to link back to these figures. The data itself is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data); please keep the attribution.

<a href="https://health.statizoid.com/stat/age-dependency-ratio-old-percent-of-working-age-population/korea-dem-people-s-rep/">Age dependency ratio, old in Korea, Democratic People&#x27;s Republic of</a> — Statizoid

About this data

Indicator
Age dependency ratio, old (% of working-age population)
Unit
% of working-age population
Source
World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), publisher: UN Population Division
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage
266 places, 17,526 data points, 1960–2025
Last refreshed

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.