Economic activity and fixed phone lines show a notable association, even after accounting for country size and wealth.
Comparing Fixed telephone subscriptions with Gross value added at basic prices (GVA) (constant 2015 US$) across 192 countries, 2022–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.85
- Holding size constant
- +0.65
- Countries compared
- 192
- Period
- 2022–2025
What might link these
A strong positive correlation between economic output (GVA) and fixed telephone subscriptions suggests that countries with more developed economies tend to have more established landline infrastructure. However, this association is unlikely to be directly causal, as technological adoption and infrastructure development are complex processes.
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 relationship could be driven by a common underlying factor, such as historical industrialization or regulatory environments, rather than a direct link between economic growth and fixed phone subscriptions themselves.
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.