Democracy linked to fewer young males per GDP
Comparing Key features of liberal democracy with Population ages 00-04, male, per unit of GDP across 169 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.58
- Holding size constant
- -0.43
- Countries compared
- 169
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The relationship between liberal democracy and fewer young males per unit of GDP might be influenced by factors such as education or family planning policies, which could be more prevalent in democratic societies. A careful reader should consider the potential impact of a likely confounder, such as access to healthcare. This correlation does not necessarily imply a direct causal link between the two indicators.
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 relationship between democracy and demographic structures, when in fact other factors may be driving the observed association.
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.