Government spending inversely linked to SDRs per currency
Comparing General government final consumption expenditure (constant LCU) with Special drawing rights per domestic currency (End-of-period (EoP)) across 143 countries, 2017–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.68
- Holding size constant
- -0.70
- Countries compared
- 143
- Period
- 2017–2025
What might link these
Countries with higher government consumption expenditure tend to have lower special drawing rights relative to their domestic currency. This could reflect different monetary policy stances or the impact of economic conditions on both indicators. However, the specific economic mechanisms driving this relationship are complex and not fully explained by the provided data.
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. While population and GDP have been controlled for, other macroeconomic factors could be influencing both indicators, potentially obscuring the true nature of the relationship.
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.