Higher imports are linked to higher GNI per unit of GDP across countries
Comparing Imports of goods and services (constant LCU) with GNI (current LCU), per unit of GDP across 168 countries, 2011–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.66
- Holding size constant
- +0.69
- Countries compared
- 168
- Period
- 2011–2025
What might link these
Imports may reflect economic activity or industrial demand, while GNI per unit of GDP could indicate productivity or trade efficiency. A careful reader should note that correlation doesn't imply causation—reverse causality or omitted factors like trade policies could influence both.
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 relationship might be driven by unmeasured confounders like institutional quality or resource endowments.
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.