Industry value added rises alongside GDP per unit of GDP across countries
Comparing Industry (including construction), value added (constant LCU) with GDP (current LCU), per unit of GDP across 196 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.70
- Holding size constant
- +0.72
- Countries compared
- 196
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
Industry value added is a component of GDP, so a strong correlation is expected, but the per-unit measure suggests efficiency or structural shifts. A careful reader should note that reverse causation or omitted variables (e.g., policy quality) could blur interpretation.
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. Industry value added is part of GDP, so this may reflect definitional overlap rather than a meaningful economic link.
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.