diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index f37aede..645df10 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pandas>=3.0.3          # DataFrames, CSV loading, crosstabs
 scikit-learn>=1.9.0    # RandomForestClassifier, train/test split, metrics
 
 # ── Statistical testing ───────────────────────────────────────────────────
-scipy>=1.15.3          # chi2_contingency for proxy variable detection
+scipy>=1.18.0          # chi2_contingency for proxy variable detection
 
 # ── Explainability ────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 shap>=0.52.0           # SHAP values — feature attribution & bias auditing