IQ에 따른 지능 순위는 일본, 대만, 싱가포르, 홍콩, 중국, 한국 순으로 동북아가 석권; 한편으로 고지능자들을 가장 잘 활용할 수 있는 국가의 순위는 미국, 독일, 영국, 호주, 싱가포르, 스위스, 스웨덴, 캐나다, 핀란드, 덴마크, 북유럽 순

 https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/smartest-countries

 

Contents

• Smartest Countries 2025
• Top 10 Smartest Countries by IQ
• The Link between Education and Intelligence
• Top 10 Smartest Countries Based on Math, Reading, and Science - OECD PISA 2022
• Top 10 Countries with the Highest Intelligence Capital Index - 2017

Education > Smartest Countries 2025

Smartest Countries 2025

IQ (Lynn/Becker)

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

110

5 Countries with the Highest Average IQ

Japan

106.48

Taiwan

106.47

Singapore

105.89

Hong Kong

105.37

China

104.1

	Japan	106.48	T	58.9	A-
	Taiwan	106.47	T	45.7	B
	Singapore	105.89	T	63.6	A
	Hong Kong	105.37	T	51.2	B+
	China	104.1	T	47.3	B
	South Korea	102.35	T	56.4	A-
	Belarus	101.6	T
	Finland	101.2	T	60.5	A
	Liechtenstein	101.07	E
	Germany	100.74	T	64.2	A
	Netherlands	100.74	T	58.7	A-
	Estonia	100.72	T	49.5	B
	Luxembourg	99.87	E	53.8	B+
	Macau	99.82	E
	Cambodia	99.75	T	16.1	D
	Canada	99.52	T	61.2	A
	Australia	99.24	T	64	A
	Hungary	99.24	T	50	B
	Switzerland	99.24	T	61.6	A
	United Kingdom	99.12	T	64.2	A
	Greenland	98.89	T
	North Korea	98.82	E
	Slovenia	98.6	T	51.5	B+
	New Zealand	98.57	T	57.3	A-
	Austria	98.38	T	58.7	A-
	Iceland	98.26	T	52	B+
	Denmark	97.83	T	60.3	A
	Belgium	97.49	T	58.7	A-
	United States	97.43	T	74.9	A+
	Norway	97.13	T	55	B+
	Sweden	97	T	61.6	A
	France	96.69	T	56.7	A-
	Poland	96.35	T	45.6	B
	Slovakia	96.32	T	43.6	B-
	Russia	96.29	T	46.6	B
	Lithuania	95.89	T	46.3	B
	Croatia	95.75	T	38.5	C+
	Andorra	95.2	E
	Ireland	95.13	T	53.6	B+
	Czech Republic	94.92	T	51.8	B+
	Latvia	94.79	T	45.8	B
	Italy	94.23	T	48	B
	Vanuatu	93.92	E
	New Caledonia	93.92	E
	Spain	93.9	T	49.8	B
	Bermuda	93.48	T
	Cyprus	93.39	T	38.5	C+
	Portugal	92.77	T	44.8	B-
	Israel	92.43	T	50.1	B+
	Barbados	91.6	T
	Malta	91.27	T	40.8	B-
	Myanmar	91.18	E
	Mongolia	91.03	T	27.4	C-
	Bulgaria	90.99	T	43.3	B-
	Greece	90.77	T	40.1	B-
	Suriname	90.29	E
	Ukraine	90.07	T	38.3	C+
	Moldova	89.98	E	31.5	C
	Serbia	89.6	T	35.2	C+
	Vietnam	89.53	T	25.1	C-
	Iraq	89.28	T
	Uzbekistan	89.01	T
	Kazakhstan	88.89	T	35.1	C+
	Thailand	88.87	T	29.2	C-
	Armenia	88.82	E	29.6	C-
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	88.54	T	25.8	C-
	Costa Rica	88.34	T	32.4	C
	Bhutan	87.94	E
	Chile	87.89	T	37.8	C+
	Mexico	87.73	T	30.7	C
	Tajikistan	87.71	T	23.1	D+
	Uruguay	87.59	E	37.9	C+
	Malaysia	87.58	T	35.5	C+
	Brunei	87.58	E
	Bahamas	86.99	T
	Romania	86.88	T	39.4	C+
	Turkey	86.8	T	33.4	C
	Argentina	86.63	T	40.5	B-
	Sri Lanka	86.62	T	23.2	D+
	Mauritius	86.56	T	31.7	C
	Turkmenistan	85.86	E
	Montenegro	85.78	E	34.6	C
	Azerbaijan	84.81	E	28.6	C-
	Georgia	84.5	E	31.5	C
	Turks and Caicos Islands	84.29	E
	Paraguay	84.04	E	24.5	D+
	Fiji	83.96	E
	Solomon Islands	83.96	E
	Samoa	83.96	E
	Kiribati	83.96	E
	Micronesia	83.96	E
	Tonga	83.96	E
	Marshall Islands	83.96	T
	Cook Islands	83.96	E
	Cuba	83.9	T
	Bahrain	83.6	T	29.6	C-
	Brazil	83.38	T	36.2	C+
	Guyana	83.23	E
	Colombia	83.13	T	27.9	C-
	Venezuela	82.99	T	26.8	C-
	Cayman Islands	82.24	E
	Afghanistan	82.12	E
	Haiti	82.1	T
	Dominican Republic	82.05	T	23.9	D+
	United Arab Emirates	82.05	T	35.9	C+
	Puerto Rico	81.99	T
	North Macedonia	81.91	E	28.3	C-
	Albania	81.75	E	23.4	D+
	Lebanon	81.7	T	19.8	D
	Philippines	81.64	T	26.6	C-
	Peru	81.44	T	28	C-
	Northern Mariana Islands	81.36	E
	Laos	80.99	T	18.8	D
	Libya	80.92	T
	Qatar	80.78	T	31.3	C
	Jordan	80.7	T	26	C-
	Maldives	80.54	E
	Iran	80.01	T	25.5	C-
	Pakistan	80	T	19.6	D
	Grenada	79.34	E
	Tunisia	79.22	E	24.8	D+
	Kyrgyzstan	79.09	T	27.2	C-
	Panama	79	E	28.8	C-
	Sudan	78.87	T
	Chad	78.87	E	10.3	D-
	Seychelles	78.76	T
	Oman	78.7	T	27.1	C-
	Kuwait	78.64	T	29.8	C-
	Indonesia	78.49	T	23.7	D+
	Papua New Guinea	78.49	E
	Ecuador	78.26	T	25.3	C-
	Palestine	77.69	T
	Senegal	77.37	E	13.2	D-
	Comoros	77.07	E
	Madagascar	76.79	E	9	D-
	British Virgin Islands	76.69	E
	Bolivia	76.53	T	22.3	D+
	Uganda	76.42	T	12.4	D-
	Saudi Arabia	76.36	T	30.2	C
	Egypt	76.32	T	21.6	D+
	India	76.24	T	29.4	C-
	Algeria	76	E	19.1	D
	Kenya	75.2	T	19.3	D
	Angola	75.1	T
	Jamaica	75.08	T	26.7	C-
	Tanzania	74.95	T	14.4	D-
	Syria	74.41	T
	Bangladesh	74.33	T	16.9	D
	Zimbabwe	74.01	T	11.7	D-
	Burkina Faso	73.8	T
	Saint Lucia	73.68	E
	Mozambique	72.5	E	10.9	D-
	Burundi	72.09	E	8.8	D-
	Niger	70.82	E
	Antigua and Barbuda	70.48	E
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	70.48	E
	Rwanda	69.95	E	9.9	D-
	Benin	69.71	E	12.8	D-
	Malawi	69.7	T	10.7	D-
	El Salvador	69.63	E	21.7	D+
	Botswana	69.45	T	23.9	D+
	South Africa	68.87	T	33	C
	Lesotho	68.87	E	16.1	D
	Eswatini	68.87	E
	Eritrea	68.77	T
	Zambia	68.43	E	18.9	D
	Ethiopia	68.42	T	10.3	D-
	Djibouti	68.41	E
	Nigeria	67.76	T	13.9	D-
	Cameroon	67.76	E	17.8	D
	Somalia	67.67	T
	Morocco	67.03	T	22.6	D+
	Namibia	66.19	T	18.9	D
	Dominica	66.03	T
	Sao Tome and Principe	65.22	E
	DR Congo	64.92	T
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	63.42	T
	Republic of the Congo	62.97	T
	Gabon	62.97	E
	Yemen	62.86	T
	Central African Republic	62.55	E
	Belize	62.55	E
	Honduras	62.16	E	20.2	D+
	Togo	59.83	E
	Mali	59.76	T	9.9	D-
	Mauritania	59.76	E	11.6	D-
	South Sudan	58.61	T
	Ghana	58.16	T	17.4	D
	Ivory Coast	58.16	E
	Guinea	53.48	E	6.8	D-
	Nicaragua	52.69	T	22.5	D+
	Gambia	52.68	T
	Cape Verde	52.5	E
	Guatemala	47.72	T	22.8	D+
	Sierra Leone	45.07	T
	Liberia	45.07	E
	Nepal	42.99	T	18.3	D

Total

• Substantial research on the subject of national IQs was conducted by psychologist Richard Lynn (1930-2023), working alongside the late Tatu Vanhanen (1929-2015) or, for 2019’s The Intelligence of Nations, with David Becker.
• Becker’s estimates are categorized by source. T = value is based upon actual test results from said country. E = value is a best-guess estimate based upon measured values of nearby countries.
• Becker’s contributions were highly controversial. He promoted the theory that specific races and genders are genetically predisposed to be more intelligent than others, and both his methodology and his objectivity were often called into question. However, his work brought attention to the field and he is frequently (if often grudgingly) considered a pioneer in the field of national intelligence.
• The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is a triennial survey of 15-year-old students around the world that measures students’ ability to recall learned knowledge and apply it in new settings both in and out of school. PISA results were most recently released in 2022.
• The Intelligence Capital Index (ICI) was created by economist Kai L. Chan and most recently updated in 2017.

Determining which countries are the smartest in the world is difficult because there are so many different factors that can be considered.

• Would the smartest country be the one with the most literate citizens?
• Maybe the smartest countries in the world would be those whose residents had the highest average IQ score country-wide?
• Or is the smartest country the one that has the highest percentage of extremely smart people?
• Could it even be the country whose citizens have earned the most Nobel Prizes?
• Standardized test scores could be another method of determining which nations are the smartest—if only it was possible to craft and administer a single standardized test that could accurately measure every aspect of intelligence in every person in every culture (and speaking every language) in every country.

Obviously, there exist challenges to any attempt to land on a single clear-and-simple answer. Nonetheless, population and intelligence experts continue to devise new methods and approaches that bring them closer and closer to a realistic ranking of the world’s smartest countries.

Some of the best-known and more widely publicized studies of world intelligence are conducted by British psychologist Richard Lynn. In a 2019 study titled The Intelligence of Nations, Lynn and collaborator David Becker measured the average IQ of citizens across 132 nations and calculated estimated scores for another 71. The top of the list looks as follows (scroll to the table at the bottom of the page for the rest).

Top 10 Smartest Countries by IQ

Japan	106.48
Taiwan	106.47
Singapore	105.89
Hong Kong	105.37
China	104.1
South Korea	102.35
Belarus	101.6
Finland	101.2
Liechtenstein	101.07
Germany	100.74

It would be irresponsible to neglect to mention that Lynn’s studies, while arguably the most comprehensive available, often spark considerable debate. Some detractors take issue with the methods Lynn uses to compute estimates when hard data is unavailable. Others accuse Lynn, an outspoken eugenicist, of using his data to support scientifically inaccurate theories.

The Link between Education and Intelligence

Education and intelligence are closely linked, as a more robust educational system tends to produce a more intelligent populace over time. With this in mind, some studies use the educational rankings of various countries as a basis for comparisons of intelligence. In 2023, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its triennial PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) results, which compared the math, reading, and science testing scores of nearly 700,000 students in 81 countries for year 2022. The top 10 appear below.

Top 10 Smartest Countries Based on Math, Reading, and Science - OECD PISA 2022

Singapore	1679	575	561	543
China	1605	552	543	510
Japan	1599	536	547	516
Taiwan	1599	547	537	515
South Korea	1570	527	528	515
Hong Kong	1560	540	520	500
Estonia	1547	510	526	511
Canada	1519	497	515	507
Ireland	1512	492	504	516
Switzerland	1494	508	503	483

A different OECD study, which used multiple data points for 2018, including adult education level, chose Canada as the most intelligent nation. Japan placed second, while Israel came in third. Other high-ranking nations include Korea, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, and Finland.

One of the more creative studies of intelligence is the 2017 Intelligence Capital Index, or ICI, which used several factors to determine not the smartest nations overall, but which nations were most likely to leverage their smartest citizens’ intelligence to “expand the frontier of knowledge and/or introduce the technologies and innovations of the knowledge economy … Big Data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, etc.”

In the ICI study, the United States ranked number one and was the only nation to receive an A+ rating. Coming in second place was the United Kingdom, followed by Germany in third place. Other high-ranking nations on the ICI include Australia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, Finland, and Denmark.

Top 10 Countries with the Highest Intelligence Capital Index - 2017

United States	74.9	A+
Germany	64.2	A
United Kingdom	64.2	A
Australia	64	A
Singapore	63.6	A
Switzerland	61.6	A
Sweden	61.6	A
Canada	61.2	A
Finland	60.5	A
Denmark	60.3	A