Gas use linked to consumer spending
Comparing Final consumption expenditure (current US$) with Gas consumption, per capita across 174 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.67
- Holding size constant
- +0.54
- Countries compared
- 174
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
The relationship between gas consumption and final consumption expenditure might be driven by a country's overall economic activity and standard of living. A careful reader should consider that urbanization could be a confounder, as more urbanized countries may have higher consumption expenditure and different gas usage patterns. The correlation suggests a possible connection, but its meaning requires further exploration.
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. This correlation could mislead by implying a direct relationship between gas consumption and consumer spending, when in fact they may both be driven by underlying factors like economic development.
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.