Between 2015 and 2023, India's IT services exports and Tesla vehicle deliveries both grew substantially, correlating at 0.9643 across nine data points. The reading that Indian software engineers are buying Teslas is tempting but geographically complicated—most of India's IT exports go to clients, not car dealerships. The reading that both represent the 2010s technology boom is more accurate but less entertaining. What the data shows is that a global technology industry in expansion will push up both the country that provides the services and the company that embodies the products. The correlation is measuring the tech sector's center of gravity, not a purchase order.
India's IT services exports grew from roughly $100 billion in 2015 to over $180 billion by 2023, driven by digital transformation demand, cloud migration, and India's competitive advantage in software services. Tesla deliveries grew from roughly 50,000 to over 1.8 million annually, driven by Model 3/Y mass production, Gigafactory scaling, and global EV adoption. Both are technology-sector growth stories from the same era, driven by separate but temporally aligned market dynamics.
Two technology-sector metrics growing during the same boom will correlate regardless of geography or product category. The Indian IT firm and the American EV manufacturer share a decade of tech-sector expansion, not a supply chain.
As an Amazon Associate, getspurious.com earns from qualifying purchases. Learn more.
Want to learn more about why correlations like “Tesla vehicles delivered” vs “India IT services exports” don't prove causation? Read our guide to statistical thinking.