Energy use rises with expenditure
Comparing Primary energy use, per capita with Gross national expenditure (current US$), per capita across 171 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.90
- Holding size constant
- +0.84
- Countries compared
- 171
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
The strong correlation between gross national expenditure per capita and primary energy use per capita might be linked through industrialization and consumption patterns. A careful reader should consider technological advancements as a likely confounder, as more efficient energy use could alter this relationship. The correlation persists even after controlling for population and GDP, suggesting a deeper connection.
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 expenditure and energy use, when in fact other factors like infrastructure development may drive both.
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.