The potential boost to economic growth that arises when a country has a large and rising share of working-age population (15 to 64 years) relative to dependants (children and the elderly), lowering the dependency ratio.
- It occurs during the demographic transition, when birth rates fall after death rates, swelling the working-age cohort.
- The "dividend" is potential, not automatic: it is realised only if the workforce is healthy, educated, skilled, and gainfully employed.
- India is among the youngest large economies, with a median age around the late twenties, and its window is projected to last for several decades; verify the latest figures.
- The dependency ratio is the number of dependants per hundred working-age persons; a falling ratio frames the dividend.
- A wasted dividend can become a "demographic burden" if jobs and skills do not keep pace; it links to unemployment and skilling policy.
The definition (working-age share rising), the conditional nature (jobs and skills needed), and India's young age profile are recurring inclusive-growth and population facts.
The dividend is potential growth, realised only with education, health, and jobs; a large youth population without employment becomes a burden, not a dividend.
Growth potential from a rising working-age share and falling dependency ratio; realised only with skills, health, and jobs.