More young males linked to lower investment in countries
Comparing Age population, age 13, male, interpolated with Gross Fixed Capital Formation — Value US$ across 181 countries, 2025–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.60
- Holding size constant
- -0.57
- Countries compared
- 181
- Period
- 2025–2025
What might link these
Countries with larger young male populations may face higher immediate consumption needs, reducing capital investment. Alternatively, lower investment could lead to poorer job prospects, discouraging young males from staying. A careful reader should note that reverse causality or omitted factors (e.g., education quality) could drive this.
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 reversal after controlling for population and GDP suggests the original link may reflect structural economic differences rather than a direct 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.