Agriculture value links to GDP per capita
Comparing GDP per capita (constant 2015 US$) with Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added (current LCU), per unit of GDP across 201 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.75
- Holding size constant
- -0.64
- Countries compared
- 201
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
The negative correlation might suggest that countries with higher GDP per capita tend to have lower agricultural value added per unit of GDP, possibly due to structural changes in the economy as it develops. A careful reader should consider the potential role of urbanization as a confounder. The relationship could be driven by various factors, including changes in industry composition and economic diversification.
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 causal relationship between agricultural sector performance and individual wealth, when in fact it may reflect broader economic transformations.
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.