Older female population and young population per GDP show a positive association.
Comparing Population ages 0-14, total, per unit of GDP with Population ages 80 and above, female, per unit of GDP across 212 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.65
- Holding size constant
- +0.51
- Countries compared
- 212
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
The positive correlation suggests countries with a higher proportion of very elderly women relative to GDP also tend to have a higher proportion of young people relative to GDP. This could be indirectly linked to factors influencing both fertility rates (affecting the younger population) and healthcare/longevity (affecting the older population), perhaps mediated by national development levels or social 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. The per-GDP normalization could be masking underlying economic differences between countries that are the true drivers of both demographic indicators.
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.