More young people per GDP unit linked to higher banana production
Comparing Bananas — Production with Population aged 15-24 years (thousands), per unit of GDP across 123 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.55
- Holding size constant
- +0.45
- Countries compared
- 123
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
Countries with younger populations may have higher agricultural labor availability or dietary preferences favoring bananas. However, climate suitability for banana farming could also drive both higher production and younger populations (e.g., tropical regions).
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; unmeasured factors like agricultural policy or climate may drive both variables.
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.