EU candidates dependency ratios 2024

The dependency ratio is a measure of the proportion of a country's population who are either below the age of being able to take up full-time employment or past the retirement age. A higher dependency ratio generally means that a country must fund a higher amount of public services used by dependents from a smaller tax base of full-time earners. On the other hand, having a high young person dependency ratio is markedly different from countries with an older population, as the money invested in younger people today will result in more full-time earners in the future. Countries with a very high old-age dependency ratios may struggle to fund their pension systems, as there are many people withdrawing with fewer people paying into the system. 

Except for Serbia, all EU candidate countries had smaller dependency ratios than the European Union average. In particular, Turkey has a much lower total dependency ratio than the EU, with 2.17 working age individuals per every dependent person, compared to 1.75 working age people in the EU. Considering the old-age dependency ratio, the difference expands further. In 2024, there were 6.6 citizens in working age for every person aged 65 and older, while the EU had around three workers for every European aged 65 and older. The EU's high old-age dependency ratio is often considered a key economic weakness of the bloc, as countries such as Italy and Germany have elderly and declining populations, leading them to have skills shortages. The youthful age profile of these candidate countries could therefore benefit the European Union, as it would provide it with a larger pool of young workers. On the other hand, countries which are particularly wary of allowing countries into the Union that may increase immigration within the bloc may look at this negatively, such as Austria and the Netherlands.