Countries with less judicial corruption have more urban population per GDP
Comparing Judicial Corruption Score with Urban and rural population 2050, per unit of GDP across 169 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.67
- Holding size constant
- -0.51
- Countries compared
- 169
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The relationship between urban and rural population distribution and judicial corruption might be linked through factors like economic development and governance. A careful reader should consider that education levels could be a confounder, influencing both population distribution and corruption. The correlation suggests a complex interplay between these 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. This correlation could mislead by implying a direct causal link between judicial corruption and population distribution, when in fact other underlying factors may be driving the relationship.
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.