Finally there is population. The id

Finally there is population. The idea that population and trade go hand in hand
stretches back to the nineteenth century trader’s dream of ‘oil for the lamps of
China’. If there are enough people, it was argued, there is great trading potential.
Much the same hopes were extended to South American countries like Brazil. In
both cases the expectations were disappointed and trade was slow to develop, despite
the size of the population. For example, Brazil has a population of 150 million,
considerably larger than Japan’s 124 million, but generates only one quarter as
much trade. A statistical analysis of the relationship between population and trade,
shows virtually no correlation. The coefficient of correlation is 0.04. If nothing
else this demonstrates that sea trade is primarily an economic phenomenon.
Economic activity creates the demand for imports and the supply of exports, not
numbers of people