Wealthy countries spend less per male per GDP
Comparing Population, male, per unit of GDP with Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (constant 2015 US$), per capita across 170 countries, 2018–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.98
- Holding size constant
- -0.96
- Countries compared
- 170
- Period
- 2018–2025
What might link these
The strong negative correlation might suggest that countries with higher GDP allocate less to male population per unit of GDP as they have more wealth to distribute across various sectors. A careful reader should consider education as a likely confounder, as it could influence both consumption expenditure and population dynamics. The relationship could be driven by differences in societal priorities and economic structures.
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 trade-off between male population allocation and consumption expenditure, when in fact other factors like education and economic policy might 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.