placestats

Fixed broadband vs. Researchers

Fades after adjusting for income

Across 131 countries, Fixed broadband and Researchers rise and fall together at r = +0.77 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to +0.49, which could easily be chance (q = 0.055, allowing for the many pairs tested, and allowing for countries in the same region being alike). So the first figure mostly shows richer countries differing from poorer ones, not a link between these two things.

Comparing countries across the middle half of researchers, 139 to 3,181 per million people, fixed broadband is better by 14.9 per 100 people at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 7.43 per 100 people.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.766p = 1.8e-26 · 131 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.488p = 4.0e-9 · likely range [+0.34, +0.61]
p, allowing for regions1.6e-5standard error 0.039 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.055across 12,497 pairs

How to read these.r runs from −1 (one goes up as the other goes down) to +1 (they rise together), and 0 means no link. Adjusting for national income means comparing countries with the same GDP per person, so differences in wealth can’t explain the link. Income is used in percentage terms, since an extra $1,000 means more to a poor country than to a rich one. p is how likely a link this strong would be if there were really none. Below 0.05 means it is unlikely to be chance. Very small values are written in short form: 1.1e-32 means a decimal point followed by 31 zeros and then 11, so very close to zero. The likely range is where the true figure probably lies, and a range that crosses zero means the link could easily be chance. Countries in the same region tend to resemble each other, so the third figure allows for that, which gives a fairer p. The standard error is the typical size of the error in r. Finally, testing this many pairs means some will look strong by luck alone. A q below 0.05 means this link is unlikely to be one of those.

Fixed broadband · per 100 peoplelink with income +0.88 · proxy
Researchers · per million peoplelink with income +0.85 · proxy

Both of these rise and fall closely with national income, so a strong link between them before adjusting was close to certain. Read the adjusted figure, not the first one.

“Link with income” is how closely each measure tracks GDP per person across countries, from −1 to +1.

Every country as a dot

Fixed broadband · per 100 people →Researchers · per million people →048.91.459,472Angola: 0.363 per 100 people, 18.9 per million peopleAlbania: 24.9 per 100 people, 429 per million peopleUnited Arab Emirates: 40.8 per 100 people, 2,607 per million peopleArgentina: 26.1 per 100 people, 1,313 per million peopleArmenia: 20.3 per 100 people, 942 per million peopleAustralia: 36.5 per 100 people, 4,569 per million peopleAustria: 30.1 per 100 people, 6,634 per million peopleAzerbaijan: 21.8 per 100 people, 1,663 per million peopleBurundi: 0.0203 per 100 people, 22.5 per million peopleBelgium: 44.2 per 100 people, 5,990 per million peopleBurkina Faso: 0.851 per 100 people, 46.6 per million peopleBulgaria: 37 per 100 people, 2,401 per million peopleBahrain: 17 per 100 people, 849 per million peopleBosnia and Herzegovina: 29.4 per 100 people, 705 per million peopleBelarus: 36.3 per 100 people, 1,568 per million peopleBolivia: 12.1 per 100 people, 63.1 per million peopleBrazil: 24.1 per 100 people, 903 per million peopleBrunei Darussalam: 21.2 per 100 people, 506 per million peopleBhutan: 2.92 per 100 people, 236 per million peopleBotswana: 7.44 per 100 people, 180 per million peopleCanada: 42.5 per 100 people, 5,624 per million peopleSwitzerland: 47 per 100 people, 6,108 per million peopleChile: 23.7 per 100 people, 707 per million peopleChina: 47.2 per 100 people, 2,107 per million peopleCongo, Dem. Rep.: 0.032 per 100 people, 10.1 per million peopleCongo, Rep.: 1.27 per 100 people, 127 per million peopleColombia: 17.2 per 100 people, 90.2 per million peopleCabo Verde: 8.31 per 100 people, 125 per million peopleCosta Rica: 23.3 per 100 people, 508 per million peopleCyprus: 37.6 per 100 people, 1,686 per million peopleCzechia: 38.9 per 100 people, 4,505 per million peopleGermany: 45.6 per 100 people, 5,926 per million peopleDenmark: 43.4 per 100 people, 8,838 per million peopleDominican Republic: 11.2 per 100 people, 20 per million peopleAlgeria: 13.3 per 100 people, 1,764 per million peopleEcuador: 17.2 per 100 people, 400 per million peopleEgypt, Arab Rep.: 11.7 per 100 people, 1,120 per million peopleSpain: 39.2 per 100 people, 3,654 per million peopleEstonia: 35.4 per 100 people, 4,800 per million peopleEthiopia: 0.594 per 100 people, 89 per million peopleFinland: 36.5 per 100 people, 8,315 per million peopleFrance: 48.9 per 100 people, 5,369 per million peopleUnited Kingdom: 42.2 per 100 people, 4,473 per million peopleGeorgia: 30.4 per 100 people, 1,896 per million peopleGhana: 0.665 per 100 people, 87.5 per million peopleGambia, The: 0.519 per 100 people, 50.9 per million peopleGreece: 44.7 per 100 people, 5,283 per million peopleGuatemala: 5.34 per 100 people, 1.45 per million peopleHong Kong SAR, China: 40.3 per 100 people, 5,874 per million peopleHonduras: 4.58 per 100 people, 188 per million peopleCroatia: 29.6 per 100 people, 2,440 per million peopleHungary: 37.5 per 100 people, 4,567 per million peopleIndonesia: 4.92 per 100 people, 395 per million peopleIndia: 3.15 per 100 people, 259 per million peopleIreland: 32.3 per 100 people, 5,753 per million peopleIran, Islamic Rep.: 12.1 per 100 people, 2,240 per million peopleIraq: 17.6 per 100 people, 164 per million peopleIceland: 37.5 per 100 people, 5,953 per million peopleItaly: 31.8 per 100 people, 2,855 per million peopleJordan: 7.02 per 100 people, 576 per million peopleJapan: 38.6 per 100 people, 5,609 per million peopleKazakhstan: 15.3 per 100 people, 758 per million peopleKenya: 3.04 per 100 people, 384 per million peopleCambodia: 4.15 per 100 people, 30.4 per million peopleKorea, Rep.: 47.8 per 100 people, 9,472 per million peopleKuwait: 1.01 per 100 people, 145 per million peopleSri Lanka: 8.47 per 100 people, 94.5 per million peopleLesotho: 0.379 per 100 people, 32.2 per million peopleLithuania: 27.8 per 100 people, 3,704 per million peopleLuxembourg: 40.3 per 100 people, 5,359 per million peopleLatvia: 25.8 per 100 people, 2,191 per million peopleMacao SAR, China: 29.9 per 100 people, 4,634 per million peopleMorocco: 7.3 per 100 people, 1,083 per million peopleMoldova: 29.6 per 100 people, 650 per million peopleMadagascar: 0.124 per 100 people, 32.9 per million peopleMexico: 21.7 per 100 people, 438 per million peopleNorth Macedonia: 29.9 per 100 people, 888 per million peopleMali: 0.774 per 100 people, 26 per million peopleMalta: 44.5 per 100 people, 2,355 per million peopleMyanmar: 2.87 per 100 people, 28 per million peopleMontenegro: 32.3 per 100 people, 764 per million peopleMongolia: 15.8 per 100 people, 535 per million peopleMozambique: 0.142 per 100 people, 44.4 per million peopleMauritius: 28 per 100 people, 689 per million peopleMalawi: 0.0864 per 100 people, 25.2 per million peopleMalaysia: 13.5 per 100 people, 1,218 per million peopleNamibia: 2.83 per 100 people, 225 per million peopleNiger: 0.111 per 100 people, 26.9 per million peopleNigeria: 0.0787 per 100 people, 22.1 per million peopleNetherlands: 43 per 100 people, 6,563 per million peopleNorway: 45.2 per 100 people, 7,451 per million peopleNew Zealand: 38 per 100 people, 5,435 per million peopleOman: 11.1 per 100 people, 739 per million peoplePakistan: 1.47 per 100 people, 474 per million peoplePanama: 18.1 per 100 people, 250 per million peoplePhilippines: 7.14 per 100 people, 320 per million peoplePapua New Guinea: 0.233 per 100 people, 33.2 per million peoplePoland: 25.4 per 100 people, 3,675 per million peoplePuerto Rico (US): 28 per 100 people, 332 per million peoplePortugal: 45.2 per 100 people, 5,983 per million peopleParaguay: 12.9 per 100 people, 139 per million peopleWest Bank and Gaza: 8.16 per 100 people, 584 per million peopleQatar: 11.8 per 100 people, 948 per million peopleRomania: 35.8 per 100 people, 1,082 per million peopleRussian Federation: 27.1 per 100 people, 2,639 per million peopleRwanda: 0.596 per 100 people, 133 per million peopleSaudi Arabia: 44.1 per 100 people, 1,235 per million peopleSenegal: 4.04 per 100 people, 572 per million peopleSingapore: 27.8 per 100 people, 8,782 per million peopleEl Salvador: 12.5 per 100 people, 55.5 per million peopleSerbia: 33.4 per 100 people, 2,688 per million peopleSlovak Republic: 33.8 per 100 people, 3,507 per million peopleSlovenia: 34.2 per 100 people, 5,616 per million peopleSweden: 40.6 per 100 people, 8,911 per million peopleEswatini: 2.51 per 100 people, 138 per million peopleSyrian Arab Republic: 6.86 per 100 people, 140 per million peopleChad: 0 per 100 people, 56.7 per million peopleTogo: 1.42 per 100 people, 57.8 per million peopleThailand: 14.9 per 100 people, 1,592 per million peopleTrinidad and Tobago: 27 per 100 people, 493 per million peopleTunisia: 15 per 100 people, 1,668 per million peopleTurkiye: 23.4 per 100 people, 2,645 per million peopleTanzania: 0.246 per 100 people, 19.3 per million peopleUganda: 0.208 per 100 people, 81.3 per million peopleUkraine: 21.7 per 100 people, 586 per million peopleUruguay: 33 per 100 people, 938 per million peopleUnited States: 38.9 per 100 people, 4,937 per million peopleUzbekistan: 34.7 per 100 people, 640 per million peopleViet Nam: 23.7 per 100 people, 836 per million peopleSouth Africa: 5.35 per 100 people, 444 per million peopleZimbabwe: 1.94 per 100 people, 95.1 per million peopleBDICHNCODDNKFINKORNGASAUSGPSWEUZB

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.7661.8e-26131
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.8761.3e-42131
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.4884.0e-9131
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.5491.3e-11131

The rank version uses only each country’s place in line, from lowest to highest, so a few extreme countries count for less. The adjusted and unadjusted versions use the same 131 countries: those that report both measures and GDP per person. So the gap between them comes from the adjustment, not from a change in which countries are counted. Drop in the size of r after adjusting: +0.278 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.463 (without QAT) to +0.533 (without SGP). The bar above shows that range on a scale from −1 to +1, with the solid line at the full result. The single country that moves r most: SGP (+0.045).

Within each region

Countries are not separate, unrelated cases, and neighbors share a lot. A link that holds inside each region is far more believable than one that shows up only when comparing regions.

nr
East Asia & Pacific18+0.50
Europe & Central Asia45+0.48
Latin America & Caribbean17+0.74
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan17+0.56
Sub-Saharan Africa29+0.60

By income third

If the link shows up only in the richest third of countries, it is a feature of rich countries, not a general pattern.

nr
Poorest third44+0.34
Middle third43+0.45
Richest third44+0.59

By largest religious group

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
Christians80+0.48
Muslims32+0.35

By last european coloniser

Countries grouped by a label they share, such as main religion, rather than by a number. Groups of fewer than twelve countries are not shown. These groups differ in income, region and history all at once. So a gap between them is a place to start asking questions, not an answer.

nr
France13+0.23
Never a European colony15+0.41
Spain16+0.55
United Kingdom36+0.52

Without outliers (countries far outside the middle half of countries on either measure, by more than one and a half times the width of that middle half): r = +0.534 after dropping 5 countries.

Two series, one country

Both measures over the years for one country you pick. The two charts are stacked so they share only the years along the bottom.

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Over time, within countries

Everything above compares countries with each other at one moment. This section compares each country only with itself over 27years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

The link also shows up within countries over time (r = +0.249). It holds even when looking only at changes from one year to the next (r = +0.105). This is the strongest kind of evidence available here: it holds when each country is compared only with itself, and it is not just a product of shared trends.

Across countries (adjusted)+0.488for comparison
Within countries+0.700each country vs itself
…and vs the same year elsewhere+0.249q = 0.017 · 99 countries
Year-on-year changes+0.105q = 0.001
Read with care.
  • Much of the within-country association disappears once shared global year effects are removed, which points to a common worldwide trend rather than a country-level relationship.

1,636 country-years (one country in one year), 99 countries, 1998–2024, about 17 years each on average. Share of the variation that happens within countries over time: 12% for Fixed broadband, 49% for Researchers. The margins of error allow for each country appearing many times, and for each year’s value being close to the year before.

Year-to-year changes are a cautious test, not a final answer. Looking only at changes from one year to the next removes each country’s own trends. But it also makes measurement mistakes louder, which pulls the results toward zero. A near-zero result here is weak evidence of no link, not proof.

With one measure years behind the other

0.30−0.3-100+10years Researchers trails Fixed broadband →lag -10: r = -0.061 (n = 1,106)lag -9: r = -0.021 (n = 1,194)lag -8: r = 0.016 (n = 1,264)lag -7: r = 0.084 (n = 1,350)lag -6: r = 0.136 (n = 1,416)lag -5: r = 0.177 (n = 1,486)lag -4: r = 0.202 (n = 1,548)lag -3: r = 0.200 (n = 1,590)lag -2: r = 0.201 (n = 1,625)lag -1: r = 0.226 (n = 1,641)lag +0: r = 0.249 (n = 1,636)lag +1: r = 0.271 (n = 1,570)lag +2: r = 0.275 (n = 1,519)lag +3: r = 0.277 (n = 1,447)lag +4: r = 0.271 (n = 1,384)lag +5: r = 0.264 (n = 1,292)lag +6: r = 0.264 (n = 1,229)lag +7: r = 0.275 (n = 1,157)lag +8: r = 0.280 (n = 1,097)lag +9: r = 0.283 (n = 1,018)lag +10: r = 0.297 (n = 949)

Same year (lag 0): +0.249. A peak away from zero does not show which comes first. These series change slowly — this year’s value is close to last year’s. That makes the curve smooth and nearly symmetric, whatever produced the data. Even a sharp peak at one lag (a gap of some years) would not prove that one measure changes the other.

This curve peaks at the edge of the window (lag +10), so it is still drifting where the search stops. That pattern usually reflects a slow trend left over in the data, not a link with real timing. The peak value should not be read as the “true” link at the right lag.

The data


per 100 people
per million people		Years
France FRA48.95,3692024, 2023
Korea, Rep. KOR47.89,4722024, 2023
China CHN47.22,1072024, 2023
Switzerland CHE476,1082024, 2023
Germany DEU45.65,9262024, 2023
Portugal PRT45.25,9832024, 2023
Norway NOR45.27,4512024, 2023
Greece GRC44.75,2832024, 2023
Malta MLT44.52,3552024, 2023
Belgium BEL44.25,9902024, 2023
Saudi Arabia SAU44.11,2352024
Denmark DNK43.48,8382024, 2023
Netherlands NLD436,5632024, 2023
Canada CAN42.55,6242024, 2022
United Kingdom GBR42.24,4732024, 2017

World Bank, World Development Indicators
World Bank, World Development Indicators

Sources

Fixed broadband

Fixed broadband subscriptions (per 100 people)

International Telecommunication Union · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

Subscriptions, not people. A household line counts once, however many people use it. A country that went straight to mobile data can be well connected with few of these lines. Internet users, already on the site, is the measure of people.

Researchers

Researchers in R&D (per million people)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

Researchers counted as full-time equivalents (two half-time researchers count as one), from national research surveys that many countries run only now and then. So coverage is thin outside the OECD.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2010–2024. To adjust for income, each measure is first predicted from GDP per person (in percentage terms, on a log scale) with a straight-line fit. Only what is left over is then compared. This is called a partial correlation. The line is drawn the standard way (ordinary least squares), which picks the line that comes closest to all the countries at once. The error margins allow for countries in the same region resembling each other, using 7 World Bank regions. The q-value corrects for testing all 12,497 pairs at once, using the Benjamini–Hochberg method. Underlying data last updated DYB 2024. How the country data works · explore Fixed broadband and Researchers

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Fixed broadband changes Researchers, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Fixed broadband or Researchers