Industry value added linked to imports
Comparing Imports of goods and services (BoP, current US$) with Industry (including construction), value added (constant 2015 US$), per capita across 181 countries, 2018–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.56
- Holding size constant
- +0.78
- Countries compared
- 181
- Period
- 2018–2025
What might link these
The relationship between industry value added and imports might be driven by countries with larger industrial sectors requiring more imports of raw materials or machinery. A careful reader should consider the potential role of trade agreements as a confounder. The correlation could also be influenced by the complexity of global supply chains.
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 suggesting a direct causal link between industry value added and imports, when in fact the relationship may be mediated by other factors such as trade policies or economic development.
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.