Higher health system scores associate with fewer working-age women per GDP unit.
Comparing Health system composite index with Population ages 15-64, female, per unit of GDP across 190 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.80
- Holding size constant
- -0.74
- Countries compared
- 190
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
One possibility is that stronger health systems reduce fertility or extend lifespans, lowering the proportion of working-age females relative to GDP. Alternatively, wealthier nations may invest more in health while also having fewer dependents per unit of economic output.
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; omitted variables like education or cultural norms could drive both indicators.
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.