Higher manufacturing share in GDP linked to smaller young male populations
Comparing Age population, age 11, male, interpolated with Manufacturing value added to gdp, per unit of GDP across 192 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.57
- Holding size constant
- +0.51
- Countries compared
- 192
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The shift from a negative to positive correlation after controlling for population and GDP suggests manufacturing intensity may relate to demographic structures, possibly through urbanization or labor demand. However, the initial negative rank correlation hints at broader development patterns where richer nations have both lower young male shares and higher manufacturing shares.
Why this is not proof of anything
This is a correlation across countries, not an experiment. It cannot show that either indicator causes the other, and both may simply follow a third thing. Correlation does not imply causation, and residual confounding (e.g., education levels or policy regimes) could drive the relationship.
The second figure above repeats the measurement with national population and income held constant. It is the more conservative number: a relationship that largely disappears there was mostly telling you that larger, richer countries have more of most things.
How this was measured
Both indicators were ranked across every country reporting each, and the two rankings compared — ranks rather than raw values, because a handful of very large countries can otherwise manufacture a relationship on their own. The calculation is arithmetic over figures already published on this site; the commentary above is drafted from the two indicator names and the resulting coefficients.