Older men linked to slower youth growth
Comparing Population ages 65 and above, male (% of male population) with Population aged 14 years or younger (thousands), annual growth rate across 211 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.69
- Holding size constant
- -0.65
- Countries compared
- 211
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The relationship between older male population and slower youth growth rate might be linked to demographic transitions, where countries with aging populations tend to have lower birth rates. A careful reader should be cautious about assuming causation and consider other factors such as healthcare and education. A likely confounder could be urbanization rates.
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 link between aging male populations and youth growth rates, when in fact other underlying demographic and socioeconomic factors may be driving the relationship.
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.