Industry and agriculture values correlate
Comparing Industry (including construction), value added (current LCU), per unit of GDP with Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (constant LCU), per capita across 195 countries, 2009–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.87
- Holding size constant
- +0.85
- Countries compared
- 195
- Period
- 2009–2025
What might link these
The strong correlation between industry value added per unit of GDP and agriculture value added per capita might be due to a country's overall economic development stage, with more developed economies potentially having a higher industry value added and lower reliance on agriculture. A careful reader should consider the potential impact of urbanization as a confounder. The relationship could be influenced by various factors, including government policies and technological advancements.
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 might mislead by suggesting a direct relationship between the two sectors, when in fact it could be driven by underlying economic or demographic factors.
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.