Aging male population linked to female workforce participation within age group.
Comparing Population ages 65 and above, male, per capita with Population ages 40-44, female, per unit of GDP across 210 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.79
- Holding size constant
- -0.72
- Countries compared
- 210
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The negative correlation suggests that countries with a higher proportion of older males might have a relatively lower proportion of females aged 40-44 in the workforce, per unit of GDP. This could be influenced by differing retirement ages, cultural norms around female employment, or varying levels of female labor force participation across age 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 one indicator causes the other; unmeasured social or economic factors could be driving both.
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.