The population is composed of people of different age groups. Population composition by age refers to the structure of the population of a place or a country by age. The population of a particular place or country can be divided into different groups to make a demographic study systematic, relevant and scientific. Population composition by age is important for several reasons. The age structure of Nepal’s population has changed significantly over some years.
Generally, the population of the age group between 15 to 59 years is known as economically active, and the people below this age group (0-14 years and 60 years and above) are considered economically dependent. However, some people in the economically dependent age group are found to be active in our society.
We know the number of children, economically active adults, and elderly people with the help of the classification of people by age group. The study of population composition by age helps to calculate the students’ enrolment ratio. The population can be categorized based on a single year, 5 years, 10 years, and bigger age groups such as 1-14 years, 15-59 years, 60 years, and above. It becomes very difficult and lengthy to divide people into a single age group. Therefore, demographers normally make 5 years age groups rather than making a single age group while studying the population composition by age. It is practically applicable as well.
If we study 5 years-age composition of the population according to the census of 2001 AD, we find more population in the 0-4, 5-9, and 10-14 years age groups than other age groups. The population of the 5-9 age group shares the highest percentage, i.e. 14.4% of all males and 13.9% of all females. The more the increase in age, the less the population shares in the age group. This can be represented by the giver table.
Table of the percentage of distribution of the population by age and sex in Nepal, 2001 AD.
| Age group (in years) | Population (%) | |
| Male | Female | |
| 0-4 | 12.3 | 11.9 |
| 5-9 | 14.4 | 13.9 |
| 10-14 | 13.5 | 12.7 |
| 15-19 | 10.4 | 10.6 |
| 20-24 | 8.3 | 9.4 |
| 25-29 | 7.2 | 7.9 |
| 30-34 | 6.4 | 6.7 |
| 35-39 | 5.7 | 5.8 |
| 40-44 | 4.8 | 4.8 |
| 45-49 | 4.1 | 4.0 |
| 50-54 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| 55-59 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| 60-64 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| 65-69 | 1.7 | 1.7 |
| 70-74 | 1.2 | 1.2 |
| 75+ | 1.3 | 1.3 |
(Source: CBS, 2001 AD)
The table clearly shows that the percentage of males and females is decreasing along with the higher age group.
Population composition can be broad age group in Nepal, 2001
| Age group | 2001 AD | |
| population | % | |
| 0-14 | 8948587 | 39.35 |
| 15-59 | 12310968 | 54.15 |
| 60+ | 1477379 | 6.50 |
| Total | 2,27,36,934 | 100 |
(Source: CBS, 2001)
