Q198
Indian EconomyNational Income, Sectors & Growth
Dependency Ratio of a country is
- a.Ratio of Imports to Gross Domestic Product.
- b.Ratio of Foreign Direct Investment to Total Investment.
- c.Ratio of Non-working Age Population to Working Age Population.
- d.Ratio of Government Expenditure to National Income.
Answer: (C) Ratio of Non-working Age Population to Working Age Population.
The dependency ratio is the number of dependants, children aged 0-14 and the elderly aged 65 and above, per 100 persons of working age (15-64): $\frac{\text{population aged 0-14} + \text{population aged 65+}}{\text{population aged 15-64}} \times 100$. It can be split into the young (child) and old-age dependency ratios. A falling ratio means a growing share of workers, the 'demographic dividend' that India is currently experiencing, while ageing societies such as Japan have a rising old-age ratio. Options A, B and D describe import intensity, the share of FDI in investment and the size of government spending, which are unrelated economic ratios.