Wealthier countries use more energy per person
Comparing GDP (current US$), per capita with Primary energy use, per capita across 200 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.88
- Holding size constant
- +0.82
- Countries compared
- 200
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
Higher GDP per capita often correlates with greater energy use due to industrial activity, infrastructure, and consumption patterns. A careful reader should note that correlation does not imply causation, and other factors like climate or energy policies may influence this 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. The partial correlation remains high after controls, but residual confounding (e.g., urbanization) could still inflate the 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.