Imports linked to foreign exchange reserves
Comparing Goods imports (BoP, current US$) with Reserves excluding gold, foreign exchange (SDR) across 167 countries, 2010–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.86
- Holding size constant
- +0.68
- Countries compared
- 167
- Period
- 2010–2025
What might link these
A country's ability to import goods may be related to its foreign exchange reserves, as these reserves can be used to facilitate international trade. However, a careful reader should be cautious about inferring causation, and consider other factors such as trade agreements and economic stability. A likely confounder is the country's overall economic openness.
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 this relationship may be driven by underlying economic factors rather than a direct link between imports and reserves.
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.