GDP per capita linked to service exports
Comparing GDP per capita (current US$) with Service exports (BoP, current US$), per capita across 186 countries, 2018–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.91
- Holding size constant
- +0.89
- Countries compared
- 186
- Period
- 2018–2025
What might link these
The strong correlation between GDP per capita and service exports per capita might be due to the fact that wealthier countries tend to have more developed service sectors. A careful reader should be cautious about inferring causation, as a likely confounder is the overall level of economic development. This relationship could be driven by various underlying factors, including education and infrastructure.
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 suggesting a direct link between wealth and service exports, when in fact other factors like economic development and institutional quality may be driving 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.