placestats

Food insecurity vs. Pupil-teacher ratio

Holds up after adjusting for income

Across 146 countries, Food insecurity and Pupil-teacher ratio rise and fall together at r = +0.75 (on a scale from −1 to +1, where 0 means no link). Comparing only countries with similar income (GDP per person) shrinks it to +0.26 (q = 0.035, allowing for the many pairs tested). Much of the first figure is that both measures rise with national income, but a weak positive link remains. Caution: direction is not consistent across regions.

Comparing countries across the middle half of food insecurity, 9.5% to 45.1% of population, pupil-teacher ratio is worse by 14.2 pupils per teacher at the top of that range than the bottom. Comparing only countries with similar national income, the gap is 5.23 pupils per teacher.

Link before adjusting (r)+0.747p = 2.4e-27 · 146 countries
After adjusting for national income+0.257p = 0.002 · likely range [+0.10, +0.40]
p, allowing for regions0.003standard error 0.052 · 7 regions
Check for luck (q)0.035across 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.

Food insecurity · % of populationlink with income -0.83 · proxy
Pupil-teacher ratio · pupils per teacherlink with income -0.83 · 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

Food insecurity · % of population →Pupil-teacher ratio · pupils per teacher →1.1%89.8%8.383.4Afghanistan: 80.8% of population, 48.8 pupils per teacherAngola: 78.5% of population, 50 pupils per teacherAlbania: 33% of population, 17.6 pupils per teacherUnited Arab Emirates: 3.6% of population, 24.5 pupils per teacherArmenia: 7.8% of population, 15.4 pupils per teacherAntigua and Barbuda: 13.5% of population, 12.4 pupils per teacherAustria: 4.7% of population, 10 pupils per teacherAzerbaijan: 14% of population, 15.4 pupils per teacherBurundi: 70.8% of population, 42.5 pupils per teacherBelgium: 8.1% of population, 11.3 pupils per teacherBenin: 65.6% of population, 39.2 pupils per teacherBurkina Faso: 41.4% of population, 39.7 pupils per teacherBulgaria: 11.6% of population, 15.2 pupils per teacherBahamas, The: 17.2% of population, 19.4 pupils per teacherBosnia and Herzegovina: 9.9% of population, 16.9 pupils per teacherBelarus: 1.1% of population, 19.2 pupils per teacherBelize: 45.5% of population, 19.8 pupils per teacherBrazil: 13.5% of population, 20.2 pupils per teacherBarbados: 31.1% of population, 14 pupils per teacherBotswana: 53.9% of population, 23.7 pupils per teacherCentral African Republic: 88.1% of population, 83.4 pupils per teacherSwitzerland: 2% of population, 9.93 pupils per teacherChile: 19.2% of population, 17.8 pupils per teacherCote d'Ivoire: 38.4% of population, 41.8 pupils per teacherCameroon: 61.2% of population, 44.8 pupils per teacherCongo, Dem. Rep.: 81.5% of population, 33.2 pupils per teacherColombia: 27.8% of population, 23.3 pupils per teacherComoros: 79.7% of population, 28.1 pupils per teacherCabo Verde: 32.1% of population, 21.1 pupils per teacherCosta Rica: 15.4% of population, 12.2 pupils per teacherCyprus: 1.4% of population, 12 pupils per teacherCzechia: 10% of population, 18.9 pupils per teacherGermany: 4.1% of population, 12.3 pupils per teacherDjibouti: 49.2% of population, 29.4 pupils per teacherDominica: 34.4% of population, 13.1 pupils per teacherDenmark: 6.9% of population, 10.7 pupils per teacherDominican Republic: 43.8% of population, 18.9 pupils per teacherAlgeria: 17.6% of population, 24.3 pupils per teacherEcuador: 33.3% of population, 24.3 pupils per teacherEgypt, Arab Rep.: 30.8% of population, 23.7 pupils per teacherSpain: 6.5% of population, 13.1 pupils per teacherEstonia: 10.8% of population, 11.3 pupils per teacherEthiopia: 61.4% of population, 55.1 pupils per teacherFinland: 13.4% of population, 13.7 pupils per teacherFiji: 29.2% of population, 28 pupils per teacherFrance: 8.4% of population, 18.2 pupils per teacherUnited Kingdom: 6.9% of population, 15.1 pupils per teacherGeorgia: 26.6% of population, 8.98 pupils per teacherGhana: 44.5% of population, 27 pupils per teacherGambia, The: 54.8% of population, 36.1 pupils per teacherGuinea-Bissau: 62.5% of population, 51.9 pupils per teacherGreece: 6.6% of population, 9.38 pupils per teacherGrenada: 17.3% of population, 16.4 pupils per teacherGuatemala: 48.8% of population, 20.3 pupils per teacherGuyana: 25.5% of population, 23.2 pupils per teacherHonduras: 41.3% of population, 25.6 pupils per teacherCroatia: 6% of population, 13.5 pupils per teacherHungary: 15.6% of population, 10.8 pupils per teacherIndonesia: 4.5% of population, 17 pupils per teacherIreland: 4.8% of population, 16.1 pupils per teacherIran, Islamic Rep.: 38.8% of population, 28.5 pupils per teacherIceland: 7.8% of population, 10.1 pupils per teacherIsrael: 9.2% of population, 12.1 pupils per teacherItaly: 1.7% of population, 11.5 pupils per teacherJamaica: 56.4% of population, 24.8 pupils per teacherJapan: 5.8% of population, 15.7 pupils per teacherKazakhstan: 2% of population, 17.2 pupils per teacherKenya: 73.9% of population, 30.7 pupils per teacherKyrgyz Republic: 7% of population, 25 pupils per teacherCambodia: 40% of population, 41.7 pupils per teacherKiribati: 42.9% of population, 25.5 pupils per teacherSt. Kitts and Nevis: 21.1% of population, 13.9 pupils per teacherKorea, Rep.: 5.4% of population, 16.3 pupils per teacherKuwait: 8.4% of population, 8.88 pupils per teacherLao PDR: 35.6% of population, 22.3 pupils per teacherLebanon: 42.4% of population, 12.5 pupils per teacherLiberia: 80.8% of population, 22.3 pupils per teacherSt. Lucia: 22.2% of population, 14.7 pupils per teacherSri Lanka: 11.2% of population, 21.7 pupils per teacherLesotho: 59.9% of population, 32.9 pupils per teacherLithuania: 6.5% of population, 13.5 pupils per teacherLuxembourg: 2.6% of population, 8.3 pupils per teacherLatvia: 11.2% of population, 11.5 pupils per teacherMoldova: 25.1% of population, 17.9 pupils per teacherMadagascar: 72.6% of population, 39.8 pupils per teacherMaldives: 13.4% of population, 10.2 pupils per teacherMexico: 19.3% of population, 26.6 pupils per teacherNorth Macedonia: 15.2% of population, 14.9 pupils per teacherMali: 20.6% of population, 37.8 pupils per teacherMalta: 9.2% of population, 12.9 pupils per teacherMyanmar: 32.7% of population, 24.4 pupils per teacherMongolia: 4.8% of population, 30.4 pupils per teacherMauritania: 66.3% of population, 34.3 pupils per teacherMauritius: 31.1% of population, 16.2 pupils per teacherMalawi: 81.7% of population, 58.7 pupils per teacherMalaysia: 16.7% of population, 11.7 pupils per teacherNamibia: 55.9% of population, 25.1 pupils per teacherNiger: 50.9% of population, 36.3 pupils per teacherNigeria: 74.8% of population, 37.6 pupils per teacherNetherlands: 7.5% of population, 11.8 pupils per teacherNorway: 7.8% of population, 8.59 pupils per teacherNepal: 36.6% of population, 19.7 pupils per teacherNaoero: 29.9% of population, 40.2 pupils per teacherNew Zealand: 17.3% of population, 14.9 pupils per teacherPakistan: 42.1% of population, 44.1 pupils per teacherPeru: 41% of population, 17.4 pupils per teacherPhilippines: 32.9% of population, 29.1 pupils per teacherPapua New Guinea: 57.3% of population, 35.5 pupils per teacherPoland: 3.4% of population, 10.2 pupils per teacherPortugal: 11.9% of population, 12.4 pupils per teacherParaguay: 26.2% of population, 24.2 pupils per teacherWest Bank and Gaza: 27% of population, 24.5 pupils per teacherRomania: 18.6% of population, 19.3 pupils per teacherRussian Federation: 2.8% of population, 21.3 pupils per teacherSenegal: 29.1% of population, 36.3 pupils per teacherSingapore: 9.5% of population, 14.7 pupils per teacherSierra Leone: 89.8% of population, 27.5 pupils per teacherEl Salvador: 45.5% of population, 26.9 pupils per teacherSerbia: 9.5% of population, 14.3 pupils per teacherSao Tome and Principe: 54.6% of population, 31.2 pupils per teacherSuriname: 35.8% of population, 13.4 pupils per teacherSlovak Republic: 7.5% of population, 15.5 pupils per teacherSlovenia: 8.2% of population, 13.8 pupils per teacherSweden: 6.9% of population, 12.2 pupils per teacherEswatini: 59% of population, 26.6 pupils per teacherSeychelles: 14.3% of population, 14.5 pupils per teacherChad: 66.3% of population, 56.9 pupils per teacherTogo: 58.5% of population, 40.1 pupils per teacherThailand: 5.4% of population, 16.6 pupils per teacherTajikistan: 25.1% of population, 22.3 pupils per teacherTimor-Leste: 53.7% of population, 26.9 pupils per teacherTonga: 14.8% of population, 21.6 pupils per teacherTunisia: 25.4% of population, 16.9 pupils per teacherTanzania: 58% of population, 50.6 pupils per teacherUganda: 54.6% of population, 42.7 pupils per teacherUkraine: 32.5% of population, 13 pupils per teacherUruguay: 16.2% of population, 11 pupils per teacherUnited States: 10.3% of population, 14.2 pupils per teacherUzbekistan: 24.4% of population, 21.5 pupils per teacherSt. Vincent and the Grenadines: 33.3% of population, 14.4 pupils per teacherViet Nam: 10.7% of population, 20.3 pupils per teacherVanuatu: 23.3% of population, 26.6 pupils per teacherSamoa: 18.6% of population, 30.2 pupils per teacherSouth Africa: 20.7% of population, 30.3 pupils per teacherZambia: 45.3% of population, 42.1 pupils per teacherZimbabwe: 68.8% of population, 36.4 pupils per teacherCAFCHECOMLBRLUXMLIMNGMWIPOLSLETCD

best-fit line line after adjusting

Four ways to measure the link

MethodrpCountries
Standard (Pearson), not adjusted+0.7472.4e-27146
By rank (Spearman), not adjusted+0.7301.4e-25146
Standard (Pearson), adjusted for national income+0.2570.002146
By rank (Spearman), adjusted for national income+0.1210.147146

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 146 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: +0.490 (a minus sign means it grew).

How solid is it?

Leaving out one country at a time, r ranges from +0.211 (without AGO) to +0.288 (without SLE). 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: AGO (-0.046).

Fragile: this link may not hold up.
  • direction is not consistent across regions

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 & Pacific21+0.32
Europe & Central Asia45-0.24
Latin America & Caribbean25+0.20
Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan13+0.33
Sub-Saharan Africa38+0.10

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 third49+0.32
Middle third48-0.09
Richest third49+0.25

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
Christians92+0.30
Muslims33+0.21

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
France20+0.17
Never a European colony16+0.20
Spain13-0.20
United Kingdom47+0.20

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 = +0.226 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 0years. So a link here can’t come from anything about a country that stays the same, such as its history, geography, institutions or culture.

Not enough history inside each country to look at this over time. That needs countries measured for several years in a row, and at least one of these measures is measured too rarely.

The data


% of population
pupils per teacher		Years
Sierra Leone SLE89.8%27.52023, 2018
Central African Republic CAF88.1%83.42022, 2016
Malawi MWI81.7%58.72023, 2018
Congo, Dem. Rep. COD81.5%33.22023, 2015
Liberia LBR80.8%22.32023, 2017
Afghanistan AFG80.8%48.82023, 2018
Comoros COM79.7%28.12023, 2018
Angola AGO78.5%502021, 2015
Nigeria NGA74.8%37.62023, 2010
Kenya KEN73.9%30.72023, 2015
Madagascar MDG72.6%39.82023, 2018
Burundi BDI70.8%42.52023, 2018
Zimbabwe ZWE68.8%36.42023, 2013
Chad TCD66.3%56.92023, 2016
Mauritania MRT66.3%34.32023, 2018

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

Sources

Food insecurity

Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population (%)

Food and Agriculture Organization, Food Insecurity Experience Scale · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

Asked of people, in a survey about running out of food, and reported as a three-year average from 2015. It is the one measure of hunger here that comes from what people say they went through, rather than from a model.

Pupil-teacher ratio

Pupil-teacher ratio, primary

UNESCO Institute for Statistics · CC BY 4.0 · updated quarterly

The World Bank's copy stops at 2019.

How this was computed

Data used: most recent value in 2010-2025; values come from 2010–2023. 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 Food insecurity and Pupil-teacher ratio

This page shows that two measures go together. It does not show that Food insecurity changes Pupil-teacher ratio, or the reverse. These figures also describe countries, not individual people. See the ecological fallacy.

More links with Food insecurity or Pupil-teacher ratio