Higher GDP countries tend to have fewer young boys relative to their population size.
Comparing GDP (current US$) with Age population, age 01, male, interpolated across 209 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.66
- Holding size constant
- -0.63
- Countries compared
- 209
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
Wealthier nations may have lower fertility rates or better data coverage for young children, while poorer countries might overcount or underreport this demographic. The sign reversal after controls suggests population and GDP were masking the true relationship.
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 unmeasured factors like healthcare access or migration could drive this pattern.
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.