Manufacturing value linked to fewer infant deaths
Comparing Manufacturing, value added (constant 2015 US$), per capita with Number of infant deaths, male, per unit of GDP across 177 countries, 2015–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.86
- Holding size constant
- -0.83
- Countries compared
- 177
- Period
- 2015–2025
What might link these
The relationship between manufacturing value added per capita and fewer infant deaths per unit of GDP might be influenced by a country's overall development and investment in healthcare. A careful reader should consider that education level could be a confounder, as it often correlates with both economic development and healthcare outcomes. The correlation persists even after controlling for population and GDP, suggesting a more complex relationship.
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 causal link between manufacturing and infant mortality, when in fact other factors like healthcare system quality and access to sanitation are likely to play a significant role.
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.