Higher national income correlates with greater cereal yield relative to GDP per capita
Comparing GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$) with Cereal yield vs gdp per capita across 175 countries, 2023–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.66
- Holding size constant
- +0.55
- Countries compared
- 175
- Period
- 2023–2025
What might link these
Wealthier countries may invest more in agricultural technology or infrastructure, boosting cereal yields. However, this could also reflect differences in agricultural subsidies, climate, or data quality rather than a direct link.
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 climate or policy could drive this 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.