Older women linked to faster growth in younger men
Comparing Population ages 40-44, female, per capita with Population ages 30-34, male, annual growth rate across 214 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.56
- Holding size constant
- -0.51
- Countries compared
- 214
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
This suggests a potential demographic echo, where a larger cohort of women in their early 40s may be associated with a subsequent increase in the male population in their early 30s, possibly due to birth rate dynamics. However, the relationship is complex and influenced by many factors beyond these two age/sex groups.
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. The correlation does not imply that Indicator A causes Indicator B, as other demographic shifts or migration patterns could be the underlying driver.
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.