Demographic window of opportunity
Topic: Measuring Development: Income, HDI and Sustainability · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The demographic window of opportunity is a period, usually lasting a few decades, when the working-age share of the population is at its highest. The dependency ratio (children and elderly compared with working-age people) is at its lowest. With more earners and fewer dependants, a country can save, invest and grow faster. That gain is called the demographic dividend, but it comes only if people are healthy, skilled and employed.
Dependency ratio = [(population aged 0–14 + population aged 65+) ÷ population aged 15–64] × 100
Example
UNFPA places India's window at roughly 2005–2055. Southern states such as Kerala and Tamil Nadu are moving through it earlier than younger northern states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.
Don't confuse with
- Demographic dividend: The window is the opportunity created by the age structure. The dividend is the extra growth a country actually gets only if it uses that window well.
Related concepts
- Population growth rate
- Population density
- Sex ratio
- Son preference
- Total fertility rate
- Replacement level fertility
- Urbanisation
- Dependency ratio
- Ageing population
- Population pyramid