Paperboard exports and wood panel imports are strongly linked across countries
Comparing Wood-based panels — Import value with Other paper and paperboard — Export quantity across 174 countries, 2023–2024.
- Rank correlation
- +0.81
- Holding size constant
- +0.62
- Countries compared
- 174
- Period
- 2023–2024
What might link these
Countries producing more paperboard may also import more wood panels for construction or manufacturing, suggesting industrial complementarity. However, a careful reader should note that both industries rely on forest resources, so a shared dependence on timber supply could inflate the correlation.
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 link may reflect broader forest-product trade patterns rather than a direct relationship between these specific indicators.
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.