Older male population linked to slower urban growth
Comparing Population ages 65 and above, male (% of male population) with Urban population, annual growth rate across 214 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.75
- Holding size constant
- -0.70
- Countries compared
- 214
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The correlation might be driven by countries with aging populations having different urbanization patterns, possibly due to lower migration rates or changes in workforce demographics. A careful reader should consider the potential impact of healthcare systems and social security policies on these indicators. A likely confounder could be the overall life expectancy or retirement age in each country.
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 relationship between aging male populations and urban growth rates, when in fact other factors like government policies or economic conditions might be driving both trends.
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.