High exports per capita link to high energy use per capita across nations.
Comparing Primary energy use, per capita with Exports of goods and services (current US$), per capita across 180 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.86
- Holding size constant
- +0.79
- Countries compared
- 180
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
Nations with higher exports often engage in more production and trade, which are energy-intensive activities. The correlation persists even after accounting for country size and economic output, suggesting a deeper relationship.
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 does not imply that increased exports directly cause higher energy use or vice versa; other factors likely influence both.
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.