Higher national spending links to more coniferous wood production
Comparing Gross national expenditure (current US$) with Roundwood, coniferous — Production across 147 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.61
- Holding size constant
- +0.42
- Countries compared
- 147
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
Wealthier countries may spend more overall and also have larger forestry sectors, while colder climates could drive both higher wood production and greater energy expenditure. A careful reader should note that correlation does not imply causation.
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 partial correlation remains strong but could still be inflated by unmeasured factors like climate policy or forest management practices.
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.