International Comparison of Math, Reading, and Science Skills Among 15-Year-Olds
Updated February 21, 2017 | Factmonster Staff 
More than 250,000 15-year old students from 41 countries participated in the assessment. The countries included all major industrialized nations (results for Britain were not available) and 11 other nations that chose to participate. The test scores are from 2003.
Mean Performance on Mathematics Scale
| Range of ranks1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | Upper rank2 | Lower rank3 |
| Hong Kong (China) | 1 | 3 |
| Finland | 1 | 4 |
| South Korea | 1 | 5 |
| Netherlands | 2 | 7 |
| Liechtenstein | 2 | 9 |
| Japan | 3 | 10 |
| Canada | 5 | 9 |
| Belgium | 5 | 10 |
| Macao (China) | 6 | 12 |
| Switzerland | 6 | 12 |
| Australia | 9 | 12 |
| New Zealand | 9 | 13 |
| Czech Republic | 12 | 17 |
| Iceland | 13 | 16 |
| Denmark | 13 | 17 |
| France | 14 | 18 |
| Sweden | 15 | 19 |
| Austria | 16 | 20 |
| Germany | 17 | 21 |
| Ireland | 17 | 21 |
| Slovak Republic | 19 | 24 |
| Norway | 21 | 24 |
| Luxembourg | 22 | 24 |
| Poland | 22 | 26 |
| Hungary | 22 | 27 |
| Spain | 25 | 28 |
| Latvia | 25 | 28 |
| United States | 25 | 28 |
| Russian Federation | 29 | 31 |
| Portugal | 29 | 31 |
| Italy | 29 | 31 |
| Greece | 32 | 33 |
| Serbia | 32 | 34 |
| Turkey | 33 | 36 |
| Uruguay | 34 | 36 |
| Thailand | 34 | 36 |
| Mexico | 37 | 37 |
| Indonesia | 38 | 40 |
| Tunisia | 38 | 40 |
| Brazil | 38 | 40 |
1. Because data are based on samples, it is not possible to report exact rank order positions for countries. However, it is possible to report the range of rank order positions within which the country mean lies with 95% likelihood.
2. Rank based on top two levels of proficiency (out of six) on mean scale of mathematical performance.
3. Rank based on lowest two levels of proficiency (out of six) on mean scale of mathematical performance.
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD PISA (Program for Student Assessment) 2003 database.
Mean Performance on Reading Scale
| Range of ranks1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | Upper rank2 | Lower rank3 |
| Finland | 1 | 1 |
| South Korea | 2 | 3 |
| Canada | 2 | 5 |
| Australia | 3 | 6 |
| Liechtenstein | 2 | 6 |
| New Zealand | 4 | 7 |
| Ireland | 6 | 10 |
| Sweden | 7 | 10 |
| Netherlands | 7 | 11 |
| Hong Kong (China) | 7 | 12 |
| Belgium | 9 | 12 |
| Norway | 11 | 18 |
| Switzerland | 12 | 20 |
| Japan | 12 | 22 |
| Macao (China) | 12 | 19 |
| Poland | 12 | 21 |
| France | 12 | 22 |
| United States | 12 | 23 |
| Denmark | 15 | 24 |
| Iceland | 17 | 24 |
| Germany | 15 | 24 |
| Austria | 14 | 25 |
| Latvia | 14 | 25 |
| Czech Republic | 17 | 25 |
| Hungary | 24 | 28 |
| Spain | 24 | 29 |
| Luxembourg | 25 | 29 |
| Portugal | 25 | 30 |
| Italy | 26 | 31 |
| Greece | 27 | 31 |
| Slovak Republic | 29 | 31 |
| Russian Federation | 32 | 34 |
| Turkey | 32 | 34 |
| Uruguay | 33 | 34 |
| Thailand | 35 | 36 |
| Serbia | 35 | 37 |
| Brazil | 36 | 38 |
| Mexico | 37 | 38 |
| Indonesia | 39 | 40 |
| Tunisia | 39 | 40 |
1. Because data are based on samples, it is not possible to report exact rank order positions for countries. However, it is possible to report the range of rank order positions within which the country mean lies with 95% likelihood.
2. Rank based on top two levels of proficiency (out of six) on mean scale of reading performance.
3. Rank based on lowest two levels of proficiency (out of six) on mean scale of reading performance.
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD PISA (Program for Student Assessment) 2003 database.
Mean Performance on Science Scale
| Range of ranks1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Country | Upper rank2 | Lower rank3 |
| Finland | 1 | 3 |
| Japan | 1 | 3 |
| Hong Kong (China) | 2 | 4 |
| South Korea | 2 | 4 |
| Liechtenstein | 5 | 11 |
| Australia | 5 | 10 |
| Macao (China) | 5 | 10 |
| Netherlands | 5 | 11 |
| Czech Republic | 5 | 11 |
| New Zealand | 6 | 11 |
| Canada | 8 | 12 |
| Switzerland | 10 | 15 |
| France | 12 | 16 |
| Belgium | 12 | 16 |
| Sweden | 13 | 18 |
| Ireland | 13 | 18 |
| Hungary | 14 | 19 |
| Germany | 14 | 21 |
| Poland | 17 | 22 |
| Slovak Republic | 18 | 25 |
| Iceland | 19 | 23 |
| United States | 20 | 27 |
| Austria | 19 | 28 |
| Russian Federation | 20 | 30 |
| Latvia | 20 | 29 |
| Spain | 22 | 29 |
| Italy | 22 | 30 |
| Norway | 24 | 30 |
| Luxembourg | 26 | 30 |
| Greece | 25 | 31 |
| Denmark | 30 | 32 |
| Portugal | 31 | 32 |
| Uruguay | 33 | 35 |
| Serbia | 33 | 36 |
| Turkey | 33 | 36 |
| Thailand | 34 | 36 |
| Mexico | 37 | 37 |
| Indonesia | 38 | 39 |
| Brazil | 38 | 40 |
| Tunisia | 39 | 40 |
1. Because data are based on samples, it is not possible to report exact rank order positions for countries. However, it is possible to report the range of rank order positions within which the country mean lies with 95% likelihood.
2. Rank based on top two levels of proficiency (out of six) on mean scale of science performance.
3. Rank based on lowest two levels of proficiency (out of six) on mean scale of science performance.
Source: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD PISA (Program for Student Assessment) 2003 database.
