GDP per capita linked to household spending
Comparing GDP per capita (constant LCU) with Households and NPISHs Final consumption expenditure (current LCU), per capita across 182 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.87
- Holding size constant
- +0.88
- Countries compared
- 182
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
The relationship between GDP per capita and household consumption expenditure may be driven by a country's overall economic activity, with higher GDP per capita enabling greater household spending. However, a careful reader should be cautious about potential confounders such as education level or cultural factors that influence consumption patterns. A likely confounder could be the level of income inequality within 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 causal link between GDP per capita and household spending, when in fact other factors 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.