Urban population linked to young female ratio
Comparing Population ages 05-09, female, per unit of GDP with Urban population, per capita across 211 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.61
- Holding size constant
- -0.53
- Countries compared
- 211
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The relationship between urban population and the proportion of young females per unit of GDP might be influenced by factors such as education and healthcare access, which can vary significantly between urban and rural areas. A careful reader should consider the potential impact of cultural and socioeconomic factors. A likely confounder could be the overall level of development or urbanization rate in a country.
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 urbanization and demographic ratios, when in fact it may be driven by underlying factors like economic development or access to education.
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.