Services value linked to private credit
Comparing Monetary Sector credit to private sector (% GDP) with Services, value added (constant 2015 US$), per capita across 171 countries, 2015–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.70
- Holding size constant
- +0.60
- Countries compared
- 171
- Period
- 2015–2025
What might link these
The correlation might reflect a country's economic development stage, where a larger service sector and increased private credit availability often occur together. A careful reader should consider that institutional factors, such as a country's regulatory environment, could also play a role. Education level is a likely confounder, as it can influence both service sector growth and credit accessibility.
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 service sector value and private credit, when in fact both may be driven by broader economic development 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.