Wealthier countries spend less on consumption
Comparing GDP per capita with Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (constant LCU), per unit of GDP across 172 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.62
- Holding size constant
- -0.48
- Countries compared
- 172
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
The negative correlation between household consumption expenditure and GDP per capita might suggest that as countries become wealthier, the proportion of their GDP spent on household consumption decreases. A careful reader should consider the potential impact of cultural and societal factors on consumption patterns. Education level could be a likely confounder in this 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 does not account for potential differences in income inequality between countries, which could significantly influence the results.
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.