Economic growth leads to deforestation until $17,440 per capita.
The study looked at the connection between economic growth and deforestation to test a theory called the Environmental Kuznets Curve. This theory suggests that as countries develop economically, environmental damage first increases, then decreases. The researchers analyzed data from 95 countries in 1995 and found that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between deforestation and economic growth. The turning point for this relationship was around 17,440 GDP per capita.
