Reserves fall as young female share rises
Comparing Total reserves (gold at market value) (SDR), per capita with Population ages 05-09, female, per unit of GDP across 169 countries, 2022–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.86
- Holding size constant
- -0.79
- Countries compared
- 169
- Period
- 2022–2025
What might link these
A possible link between the two indicators could be related to economic priorities and investments in human capital versus physical reserves. However, a careful reader should be cautious about assuming a direct relationship and consider other factors such as education expenditure or societal values. A likely confounder could be the overall level of economic development or stability.
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 trade-off between reserve accumulation and investment in young females, when in fact other economic or societal 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.