Countries with younger populations import less paper and paperboard per person.
Comparing Other paper and paperboard, not elsewhere specified — Import value, per capita with Population ages 0-14, total, per capita across 176 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.72
- Holding size constant
- -0.61
- Countries compared
- 176
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
Younger populations may consume less paper (e.g., fewer books, less packaging) or prioritize other goods, while older populations may drive higher demand for paper products. A careful reader should note that correlation doesn't imply causation—other factors like education levels or digitalization could also play a role.
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. The relationship could be driven by unmeasured confounders like economic structure or cultural preferences.
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.