Female primary enrollment linked to exports
Comparing Exports of goods, services and primary income (BoP, current US$) with Enrolment in primary education, female (number), per unit of GDP across 177 countries, 2016–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.56
- Holding size constant
- -0.84
- Countries compared
- 177
- Period
- 2016–2025
What might link these
The relationship between exports and female primary education enrollment per GDP unit might be influenced by a country's overall development stage, with more developed countries typically having higher exports and better education systems. A careful reader should consider the potential impact of cultural and societal factors on education enrollment. Government spending priorities could be a likely confounder.
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 exports and education enrollment, when in fact both may be driven by broader economic and societal 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.