placestats

Fixed broadband vs. Youth not in work or study

Fades after adjusting for income

Across 174 countries, Fixed broadband and Youth not in work or study rise and fall together at r = -0.58 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to -0.23, which could easily be chance (q = 0.087, 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 youth not in work or study, 11.7% to 25.7% of 15 to 24 year olds, fixed broadband is worse by 11.1 per 100 people at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 2.69 per 100 people.

Link before adjusting (r)-0.580p = 4.8e-17 · 174 countries
After adjusting for national income-0.234p = 0.002 · likely range [-0.37, -0.09]
p, allowing for regions0.013standard error 0.067 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.087across 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
Youth not in work or study · % of 15 to 24 year oldslink with income -0.63 · high

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 →Youth not in work or study · % of 15 to 24 year olds →051.33.14%65.7%Aruba: 17.5 per 100 people, 16.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsAfghanistan: 0.0801 per 100 people, 43.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsAngola: 0.363 per 100 people, 24.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsAlbania: 24.9 per 100 people, 21% of 15 to 24 year oldsUnited Arab Emirates: 40.8 per 100 people, 8.92% of 15 to 24 year oldsArgentina: 26.1 per 100 people, 15.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsArmenia: 20.3 per 100 people, 20.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsAntigua and Barbuda: 10.7 per 100 people, 20.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsAustralia: 36.5 per 100 people, 8.53% of 15 to 24 year oldsAustria: 30.1 per 100 people, 13.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsAzerbaijan: 21.8 per 100 people, 9.64% of 15 to 24 year oldsBurundi: 0.0203 per 100 people, 11.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsBelgium: 44.2 per 100 people, 8.15% of 15 to 24 year oldsBenin: 0.277 per 100 people, 14.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsBurkina Faso: 0.851 per 100 people, 24.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsBangladesh: 8.09 per 100 people, 15.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsBulgaria: 37 per 100 people, 10.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsBosnia and Herzegovina: 29.4 per 100 people, 14.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsBelarus: 36.3 per 100 people, 65.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsBelize: 9.75 per 100 people, 24.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsBermuda: 51.3 per 100 people, 6.79% of 15 to 24 year oldsBolivia: 12.1 per 100 people, 8.02% of 15 to 24 year oldsBrazil: 24.1 per 100 people, 18.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsBarbados: 37.5 per 100 people, 29% of 15 to 24 year oldsBrunei Darussalam: 21.2 per 100 people, 19% of 15 to 24 year oldsBhutan: 2.92 per 100 people, 15.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsBotswana: 7.44 per 100 people, 38% of 15 to 24 year oldsCanada: 42.5 per 100 people, 13.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsSwitzerland: 47 per 100 people, 6.99% of 15 to 24 year oldsChile: 23.7 per 100 people, 13.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsCote d'Ivoire: 1.6 per 100 people, 18.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsCameroon: 2.13 per 100 people, 23.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsCongo, Dem. Rep.: 0.032 per 100 people, 31.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsColombia: 17.2 per 100 people, 22% of 15 to 24 year oldsComoros: 0.388 per 100 people, 21.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsCabo Verde: 8.31 per 100 people, 28% of 15 to 24 year oldsCosta Rica: 23.3 per 100 people, 19.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsCuracao: 31.5 per 100 people, 17.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsCyprus: 37.6 per 100 people, 13.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsCzechia: 38.9 per 100 people, 4.62% of 15 to 24 year oldsGermany: 45.6 per 100 people, 7.58% of 15 to 24 year oldsDjibouti: 1.47 per 100 people, 44% of 15 to 24 year oldsDenmark: 43.4 per 100 people, 6.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsDominican Republic: 11.2 per 100 people, 24.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsAlgeria: 13.3 per 100 people, 20.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsEcuador: 17.2 per 100 people, 17.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsEgypt, Arab Rep.: 11.7 per 100 people, 23.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsSpain: 39.2 per 100 people, 10.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsEstonia: 35.4 per 100 people, 10.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsEthiopia: 0.594 per 100 people, 17.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsFinland: 36.5 per 100 people, 8.28% of 15 to 24 year oldsFiji: 1.8 per 100 people, 20.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsFrance: 48.9 per 100 people, 12.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsMicronesia, Fed. Sts.: 5.82 per 100 people, 28.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsGabon: 4.69 per 100 people, 20.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsUnited Kingdom: 42.2 per 100 people, 14.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsGeorgia: 30.4 per 100 people, 14.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsGhana: 0.665 per 100 people, 23.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsGuinea: 0.00628 per 100 people, 34.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsGambia, The: 0.519 per 100 people, 36.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsGuinea-Bissau: 0.386 per 100 people, 13.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsGreece: 44.7 per 100 people, 10.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsGrenada: 29.8 per 100 people, 20.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsGuatemala: 5.34 per 100 people, 24% of 15 to 24 year oldsGuyana: 12.9 per 100 people, 44.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsHong Kong SAR, China: 40.3 per 100 people, 5.95% of 15 to 24 year oldsHonduras: 4.58 per 100 people, 29% of 15 to 24 year oldsCroatia: 29.6 per 100 people, 8.08% of 15 to 24 year oldsHaiti: 0.307 per 100 people, 21.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsHungary: 37.5 per 100 people, 9.98% of 15 to 24 year oldsIndonesia: 4.92 per 100 people, 21.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsIndia: 3.15 per 100 people, 25.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsIreland: 32.3 per 100 people, 5.67% of 15 to 24 year oldsIran, Islamic Rep.: 12.1 per 100 people, 24.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsIraq: 17.6 per 100 people, 36.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsIceland: 37.5 per 100 people, 3.98% of 15 to 24 year oldsIsrael: 29.2 per 100 people, 15.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsItaly: 31.8 per 100 people, 12% of 15 to 24 year oldsJamaica: 16 per 100 people, 19.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsJordan: 7.02 per 100 people, 29.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsJapan: 38.6 per 100 people, 3.14% of 15 to 24 year oldsKazakhstan: 15.3 per 100 people, 9.49% of 15 to 24 year oldsKenya: 3.04 per 100 people, 18.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsKyrgyz Republic: 7.8 per 100 people, 19.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsCambodia: 4.15 per 100 people, 6.32% of 15 to 24 year oldsKiribati: 0.0349 per 100 people, 35.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsLao PDR: 2.72 per 100 people, 22.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsLebanon: 7.29 per 100 people, 23.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsLiberia: 0.275 per 100 people, 39.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsSt. Lucia: 13.6 per 100 people, 25.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsSri Lanka: 8.47 per 100 people, 17.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsLesotho: 0.379 per 100 people, 38% of 15 to 24 year oldsLithuania: 27.8 per 100 people, 14.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsLuxembourg: 40.3 per 100 people, 10.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsLatvia: 25.8 per 100 people, 9.89% of 15 to 24 year oldsMacao SAR, China: 29.9 per 100 people, 4.96% of 15 to 24 year oldsMorocco: 7.3 per 100 people, 35.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsMoldova: 29.6 per 100 people, 9.05% of 15 to 24 year oldsMadagascar: 0.124 per 100 people, 24.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsMaldives: 19.6 per 100 people, 26.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsMexico: 21.7 per 100 people, 16.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsMarshall Islands: 2.35 per 100 people, 40% of 15 to 24 year oldsNorth Macedonia: 29.9 per 100 people, 19.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsMali: 0.774 per 100 people, 30.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsMalta: 44.5 per 100 people, 7.84% of 15 to 24 year oldsMyanmar: 2.87 per 100 people, 15% of 15 to 24 year oldsMontenegro: 32.3 per 100 people, 14.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsMongolia: 15.8 per 100 people, 9.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsMozambique: 0.142 per 100 people, 19.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsMauritania: 0.947 per 100 people, 44.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsMauritius: 28 per 100 people, 13.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsMalawi: 0.0864 per 100 people, 39.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsMalaysia: 13.5 per 100 people, 10.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsNamibia: 2.83 per 100 people, 31.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsNiger: 0.111 per 100 people, 15.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsNigeria: 0.0787 per 100 people, 11.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsNicaragua: 5.78 per 100 people, 24.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsNetherlands: 43 per 100 people, 4.14% of 15 to 24 year oldsNorway: 45.2 per 100 people, 5.82% of 15 to 24 year oldsNepal: 10.1 per 100 people, 34.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsNaoero: 9.96 per 100 people, 50.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsNew Zealand: 38 per 100 people, 12.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsOman: 11.1 per 100 people, 25.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsPakistan: 1.47 per 100 people, 28.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsPanama: 18.1 per 100 people, 15.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsPeru: 11.7 per 100 people, 22.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsPhilippines: 7.14 per 100 people, 12.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsPalau: 7.33 per 100 people, 11.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsPapua New Guinea: 0.233 per 100 people, 27.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsPoland: 25.4 per 100 people, 10.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsPuerto Rico (US): 28 per 100 people, 19.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsPortugal: 45.2 per 100 people, 7.02% of 15 to 24 year oldsParaguay: 12.9 per 100 people, 18.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsWest Bank and Gaza: 8.16 per 100 people, 25.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsRomania: 35.8 per 100 people, 17% of 15 to 24 year oldsRussian Federation: 27.1 per 100 people, 6.68% of 15 to 24 year oldsRwanda: 0.596 per 100 people, 15.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsSaudi Arabia: 44.1 per 100 people, 16.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsSudan: 0.0604 per 100 people, 46.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsSenegal: 4.04 per 100 people, 35.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsSingapore: 27.8 per 100 people, 6.46% of 15 to 24 year oldsSolomon Islands: 0.107 per 100 people, 7.04% of 15 to 24 year oldsSierra Leone: 0.00227 per 100 people, 25.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsEl Salvador: 12.5 per 100 people, 20.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsSomalia, Fed. Rep.: 0.723 per 100 people, 51% of 15 to 24 year oldsSerbia: 33.4 per 100 people, 12.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsSao Tome and Principe: 2.99 per 100 people, 43.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsSuriname: 18.8 per 100 people, 18.2% of 15 to 24 year oldsSlovak Republic: 33.8 per 100 people, 8.75% of 15 to 24 year oldsSlovenia: 34.2 per 100 people, 7.13% of 15 to 24 year oldsSweden: 40.6 per 100 people, 5.58% of 15 to 24 year oldsEswatini: 2.51 per 100 people, 36.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsSeychelles: 31.6 per 100 people, 16.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsChad: 0 per 100 people, 42.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsTogo: 1.42 per 100 people, 13% of 15 to 24 year oldsThailand: 14.9 per 100 people, 12.4% of 15 to 24 year oldsTajikistan: 0.984 per 100 people, 41.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsTimor-Leste: 0.006 per 100 people, 29.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsTonga: 8.17 per 100 people, 25.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsTrinidad and Tobago: 27 per 100 people, 15.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsTunisia: 15 per 100 people, 22.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsTurkiye: 23.4 per 100 people, 22.9% of 15 to 24 year oldsTuvalu: 4.52 per 100 people, 34.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsTanzania: 0.246 per 100 people, 12.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsUganda: 0.208 per 100 people, 13.8% of 15 to 24 year oldsUkraine: 21.7 per 100 people, 16.5% of 15 to 24 year oldsUruguay: 33 per 100 people, 14% of 15 to 24 year oldsUnited States: 38.9 per 100 people, 11.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsViet Nam: 23.7 per 100 people, 10.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsVanuatu: 1.16 per 100 people, 29.3% of 15 to 24 year oldsSamoa: 0.878 per 100 people, 30.1% of 15 to 24 year oldsSouth Africa: 5.35 per 100 people, 34.6% of 15 to 24 year oldsZambia: 0.79 per 100 people, 26.7% of 15 to 24 year oldsZimbabwe: 1.94 per 100 people, 36% of 15 to 24 year oldsAFGBDIBLRBMUBRBCHEKHMNLDNRUSDNSLBSOM

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted-0.5804.8e-17174
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted-0.6336.6e-21174
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income-0.2340.002174
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income-0.1640.031174

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 174 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: +0.346 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from -0.305 (without BLR) to -0.181 (without GUY). 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: BLR (-0.071).

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 & Pacific29-0.25
Europe & Central Asia46+0.01
Latin America & Caribbean30-0.41
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan17-0.34
Sub-Saharan Africa43-0.12

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 third58+0.00
Middle third58-0.02
Richest third58-0.52

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
Christians106-0.33
Muslims42-0.05

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
France22-0.31
Never a European colony17-0.12
Spain19-0.28
United Kingdom55-0.17

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 = -0.328 after dropping 3 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.

Loading…

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.

Within countries over time, there is no link that is clearly more than chance (r = -0.035, comparing each country only with itself over the years, and each year only with the same year elsewhere). Whatever the cross-country picture shows, countries whose fixed broadband moved did not tend to see their youth not in work or study move with it.

Across countries (adjusted)-0.234for comparison
Within countries-0.224each country vs itself
…and vs the same year elsewhere-0.035q = 0.634 · 117 countries
Year-on-year changes+0.024q = 0.503

1,937 country-years (one country in one year), 117 countries, 1998–2024, about 17 years each on average. Share of the variation that happens within countries over time: 19% for Fixed broadband, 41% for Youth not in work or study. 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

0.10−0.1-100+10years Youth not in work or study trails Fixed broadband →lag -10: r = -0.010 (n = 1,164)lag -9: r = -0.067 (n = 1,244)lag -8: r = -0.069 (n = 1,332)lag -7: r = -0.073 (n = 1,423)lag -6: r = -0.068 (n = 1,495)lag -5: r = -0.062 (n = 1,589)lag -4: r = -0.057 (n = 1,675)lag -3: r = -0.065 (n = 1,740)lag -2: r = -0.046 (n = 1,832)lag -1: r = -0.024 (n = 1,891)lag +0: r = -0.035 (n = 1,937)lag +1: r = -0.035 (n = 1,916)lag +2: r = -0.036 (n = 1,862)lag +3: r = -0.037 (n = 1,818)lag +4: r = -0.046 (n = 1,753)lag +5: r = -0.044 (n = 1,680)lag +6: r = -0.058 (n = 1,609)lag +7: r = -0.075 (n = 1,534)lag +8: r = -0.079 (n = 1,457)lag +9: r = -0.043 (n = 1,371)lag +10: r = -0.024 (n = 1,267)

Same year (lag 0): -0.035. 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.

The data


per 100 people
% of 15 to 24 year olds		Years
Bermuda BMU51.36.79%2024, 2010
France FRA48.912.6%2024
Switzerland CHE476.99%2024, 2025
Germany DEU45.67.58%2024
Portugal PRT45.27.02%2024, 2025
Norway NOR45.25.82%2024
Greece GRC44.710.4%2024, 2025
Malta MLT44.57.84%2024
Belgium BEL44.28.15%2024
Saudi Arabia SAU44.116.4%2024, 2025
Denmark DNK43.46.9%2024
Netherlands NLD434.14%2024
Canada CAN42.513.3%2024, 2025
United Kingdom GBR42.214.4%2024, 2025
United Arab Emirates ARE40.88.92%2024, 2023

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.

Youth not in work or study

Share of youth not in education, employment or training, total (% of youth population)

International Labour Organization · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

From labour force surveys, so yearly for about a hundred countries and occasional elsewhere.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2010–2025. 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 Youth not in work or study

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

More links with Fixed broadband or Youth not in work or study