Fewer young males as female population ages
Comparing Population ages 0-14, male (% of male population) with Population ages 70-74, female, per capita across 214 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- -0.81
- Holding size constant
- -0.76
- Countries compared
- 214
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
The negative correlation between the percentage of male population aged 0-14 and the per capita female population aged 70-74 may suggest demographic shifts or differences in population structures across countries. A careful reader should consider factors like fertility rates, life expectancy, and migration patterns. A likely confounder could be the overall fertility rate of a 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 relationship between the two age groups without considering broader demographic 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.