Population distribution per GDP links strongly with people living in urban/rural areas per GDP.
Comparing Number of people living in urban and rural areas, per unit of GDP with Population, total, per unit of GDP across 211 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.96
- Holding size constant
- +0.94
- Countries compared
- 211
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
Indicator A reflects how population size is related to economic output, while Indicator B describes how that population is distributed geographically relative to GDP. A likely confounder is urbanization rates, as countries with higher urbanization may concentrate both population and economic activity in urban centers, affecting both indicators.
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 strong correlation doesn't indicate that one indicator directly causes the other, but rather that they are influenced by shared underlying socioeconomic factors.
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.