Older males linked to lower elderly GDP share
Comparing Population aged 65 years or older (thousands), per unit of GDP with Population ages 55-59, male, per capita across 208 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.59
- Holding size constant
- -0.42
- Countries compared
- 208
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The relationship between males aged 55-59 and the population aged 65 or older per unit of GDP might be linked through workforce participation and retirement patterns. A careful reader should consider that healthcare expenditure, a likely confounder, could influence both indicators. This correlation could hint at broader demographic and economic trends.
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 implying a direct relationship between the two age groups without considering other factors like retirement policies and social security systems.
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.