Female teens per GDP linked to lower expenditure
Comparing Gross national expenditure (current US$), per capita with Population ages 15-19, female, per unit of GDP across 179 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.99
- Holding size constant
- -0.98
- Countries compared
- 179
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
The strong negative correlation might suggest that countries with a higher proportion of female teens relative to their GDP tend to have lower gross national expenditure per capita. A careful reader should consider that education or healthcare expenditure could be a confounder, as these sectors often receive significant funding and may be influenced by the demographic composition. The relationship could be driven by various underlying factors, including societal priorities and economic policies.
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 relationship between demographic composition and expenditure, when in fact it may be influenced by other factors such as government priorities or economic systems.
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.