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What metric best measures a nation’s progress? A composite metric that is a combination of different factors is not as sound as it may seem at first sight because of the subjective bias involved in the weights allotted to individual factors. A more fundamental approach I believe, is to think through what is most critical for a particular nation at a particular point in time and then define a metric based on this single, most crucial factor that would contribute most to a nation’s progress. This is the approach followed in this article.
Dependency Ratio (percentage)
|
|||||||||
1980
|
1990
|
2000
|
2010
|
2020
|
2030
|
2040
|
2050
|
||
India
|
75
|
69
|
64
|
54
|
50
|
47
|
46
|
47
|
|
China
|
67
|
54
|
47
|
35
|
40
|
45
|
57
|
62
|
|
Brazil
|
72
|
67
|
54
|
47
|
43
|
45
|
49
|
56
|
|
Russian Federation
|
47
|
49
|
45
|
39
|
48
|
53
|
54
|
66
|
|
UK
|
56
|
54
|
54
|
52
|
57
|
62
|
66
|
68
|
|
USA
|
52
|
52
|
52
|
49
|
56
|
63
|
63
|
64
|
|
France
|
56
|
52
|
54
|
54
|
62
|
67
|
70
|
71
|
|
Germany
|
52
|
45
|
47
|
52
|
56
|
70
|
78
|
78
|
Table 1 (Source: World Bank – World Development Indicators)
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