Higher sawnwood exports linked to higher product taxes/subsidies
Comparing Taxes less subsidies on products (current US$) with Sawnwood — Export quantity across 166 countries, 2024–2025.
- Rank correlation
- +0.65
- Holding size constant
- +0.46
- Countries compared
- 166
- Period
- 2024–2025
What might link these
Wealthier or more industrialized countries may export more wood while also levying higher taxes on products, but the link could reflect broader economic activity rather than a direct connection. A careful reader should note that the partial correlation weakens after controls, suggesting population/GDP explain part of the relationship.
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. Taxes on products include many non-wood sectors, so the link may not reflect sawnwood specifically.
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.