What is the most smartest country

World’s Smartest Countries

Time’s up. Pencils down. Hand your papers in. It’s time to tot up the scores and find out which is the brainiest nation once and for all.

The human race is pretty damn smart. Together, we’ve come up with nuclear fusion; the ability to travel through space and those pillows that are in the shape of another person so it feels like you’re being hugged. Yep, we’ve got lots to be proud of as a species.

But have you ever lain awake at night wondering which is the cleverest country? Perhaps you’ve run into a brainy Brazilian, a genius Ghanaian or a super smart Swiss and wondered which country has the most intelligent people.

Well, we at Vouchercloud now have the definitive answer: the end to this argument in the pub and probably the start of a few more. Using a range of data including number of Nobel Prizes won (to represent historic intelligence), current average IQ (to represent present intelligence), and educational attainment (the intelligence of the future generation); we’ve covered every area possible to find the most gifted population.

Rounding out the top 3 is consistently high-performing Switzerland in 2nd and China in 3rd. China, whilst lagging behind in the Nobel rankings, more than makes up for it with the 2nd highest national IQ and the 7th highest performing school kids.

In perhaps a sign of things to come, the US trails China in 4th, with the top Nobel ranking but a poorer showing in IQ (28th) and school achievement (13th). The UK makes the top 10 in a respectable 8th, but we shouldn’t be too complacent — whilst we have the 2nd highest number of Nobel Prizes, our IQ (17th) and school (30th) scores let us down.

What’s really telling is how incredibly well East Asian countries score in the IQ and school tests. South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore are all in the top 4 for both, but let down by Nobel scores that drag them to 10th and below overall. With a few more Nobel wins in the future, they’ll be on top for sure.

Nobel Prizes

Western countries tend to dominate here, the Nobel being a Western institution and all. Only Japan (6th), Israel (15th), India (18th), South Africa (18th) and China (21st) fall outside of this bracket. Expect radical shifts as Asia catches up in the coming years.

National IQ

Look at the top 6 countries! All Asian. The first entry from a non-Asian country, Finland, is over 3 points behind. Plenty of the usual suspects here but props to Liechtenstein (10th) and Mongolia (12th) for outperforming all expectations.

School Achievement

Children are the future and it’s clear the future belongs to the 4-letter continent, with the top 5 countries being Asian. It’s clear this represents a major shift in global intellectual power: as time goes by, we’re going to see proportionally more innovation from the East, with Western ideas not dominating as they have done before.

Russia represents Europe in 6th whilst its neighbour Kazakhstan, hitherto famous only for Borat and being annexed by the Soviet Union, smashes expectations with the 9th smartest schoolchildren in the world. Could this be the rise of a new intellectual superpower? ALL HAIL THE KAZAKHS.

Notes on the Data

Our Nobel Prize Winners were compiled from World Atlas, whilst global IQ scores were obtained from a 2012 sociological study by Lynn & Vanhanen, and our school pupil scores come from a 2015 study from Our World in Data.

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Smartest Countries 2022

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

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).

*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 that promote white supremacist beliefs.

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 2018, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released its triennial PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) results, which compared the reading, math, and science testing scores of more than 600,000 students in 79 countries. The top 10 appear below.

Another OECD study, which used multiple data points 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.

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.

Here are the 10 countries with the highest IQs:

TOP-10 smartest countries in the world 2022 Rankings

In today’s world, we are constantly faced with various global problems, whether it is climate change on the planet or the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. In order to solve serious problems in a timely manner, scientists are needed. For this reason, a special organization of the OECD was created, which is engaged, among other things, in tracking the number of scientists who have received the degree of candidate or doctor of science in the largest and most developed countries of our planet.

The data that we will present in this article is taken from the report «Industry, Science and Technology in 2015 «, which refers to the ranking of countries in the world that identify the largest percentage of people who have received a particular degree in various fields of activity.

Tenth place

Ninth place

In Austria, one-fourth of the population, except for pensioners and children, are PhDs. There are also a lot of doctors of science in the country: 9 men and 6-7 women out of a thousand.

Eighth

In eighth place is Mexico. Here, the number of people with any degree is slowly but steadily increasing. Thus, in 10 years, the figure has increased by 1% and currently stands at 25% among the working-age population. And this is despite the fact that the country has now canceled benefits for investments in research and various developments!

Seventh

One of the highest percentages among women with a degree in STEM is recorded in Estonia. In 2012, it was just under 50%.

Sixth place

In Greece, the rate of university graduates who received diplomas in STEM sciences decreased by 2% over the decade. However, despite this, Greece is still in sixth place in the ranking of the smartest countries in the world.

Fifth place

The top five smartest countries in the world is closed by France. Here, more than a quarter of the population works in industrial enterprises and organizations, and not in education and state institutions.

Fourth place

Third place

The last in the top three is Sweden. 75% of employees of enterprises, organizations and institutions of the country use computers for their work.

Second place

First place

The honorary title of the smartest country in the world was received by South Korea. It is it that occupies the first place in the ranking, despite the fact that in it the number of people who received the degree of candidates or doctors of science (by as much as 7%) decreased the most.

Top 10 Smartest Countries In The World – IQ Level

Students from these countries are world leaders and have great performance in mathematics and science fields. In this article, we have the ranking of the smartest countries in the world and this is due to their IQ level.

Intelligence is a factor that not everyone is blessed with, mind you, nobody is born dull, there are various factors that contribute to the intelligence of someone. It is important to note that intelligence separates humans from animals.

There are several forms and variations of intelligence: logical, emotional, motor, linguistic, musical, and so on. But the question is, who are the smartest people on earth? And this takes us to the countries where they are.

A survey by the Statistical Research Institute of the Brain investigated where the smartest people in the world are. The result is a list of countries where the population’s average IQ is highest.

The most popular way to measure intelligence is with the IQ test (Intelligence Quotient). We also have other ways to measure intelligence in a country as well. In this selection, we have highlighted the 10 most intelligent countries in the world, classified by IQ, but considering other factors as well.

Top 10 Smartest Countries In The World

Below is the list of the nations considered the most intelligent in the world;

10. Sweden (average IQ: 101)

Sweden is a country that stands out in several socioeconomic categories. Health, education, equality, and economic competitiveness are some of the country’s strengths, and its presence in the ranking is not surprising.

For those who are not completely familiar with how an IQ test works, they are designed and the average IQ will be around 100. Typically, somewhere around sixty percent of people who take an IQ test will get a score in the range of about 100.

But as we have it, Sweden is one of the countries that have an average IQ higher than 100 marks. Sweden has a good educational system, with many education costs covered by the government, so education is accessible to anyone with mental aptitude.

9. Netherlands (average IQ: 102)

The Netherlands is considered to be one of the happiest countries and also one of the most prosperous. But the Dutch did not stop there and also stand out when it comes to intelligence.

The Netherlands has a very good educational system for children, ranking ninth when it comes to testing scores of school children in the fields of math and science. The country with the best educational system in the world and the best school-age test scores is Finland. The average IQ in the Netherlands is 102.

8. Italy (average IQ: 102)

The tradition of innovation in science and technology in Italy goes back hundreds of years. When thinking about Italy, people are quickly drawn to the thoughts of the Roman Empire or the Italian Renaissance.

Some of the greatest sculptors, painters, writers, and poets, acclaimed the country. But they are currently carrying this up with average progress above in the fields of math, science, physics, and other areas. The average IQ in Italy is around 102 as well.

7. Germany (average IQ: 102)

This is another European country that is no surprise to configure the list of the most intelligent countries in the world. Germany is a developed country with an impressive structure.

This country stands out for its impressive educational system, where it offers free courses at prestigious universities worldwide. The average IQ of the German population is 102 points.

6. Austria (average IQ: 102)

Austria is said to be a country with one of the best educational systems in the world. The country has the second-highest percentage of people with PhDs who are in the workforce of any country.

For every thousand people in the country, around 7 women will have a Ph.D., and around 9 men will also have a Ph.D. The average IQ in Austria is 102.

5. Singapore (average IQ: 103)

Singapore is considered as the 5th most intelligent country in the world, also one of the most prominent countries when it comes to technological development. A little higher than those already mentioned, the average IQ there is 103.

4. Taiwan (average IQ: 104)

Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China, is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, as well as being one of the most intelligent. The education of its people is a subject that is taken very seriously in Taiwan.

It is one of the countries with the highest percentage of citizens with higher education. Taiwan is known worldwide for its advances in technology, as well as for its devotion to its public education system. The average IQ in Taiwan is 104.

3. Japan (average IQ: 105)

The 3rd smartest country in the world is Japan, Japan does not play games when it comes to intelligence and studies. It is one of the leaders in terms of scientific and technological development.

Japan is notorious for having a difficult philosophy of early childhood education, with students dedicating themselves to long hours to prepare for difficult exams. When it comes to scientific research, Japan has increasingly been one of the best countries in the world. The nation is third in the ranking, with an average IQ of 105.

2. South Korea (average IQ: 106)

The Bloomberg company said that South Korea is the most “innovative” of all countries in the world. Its students have the third-best test scores of any country and spend a lot of money on research and development projects.

The rather advanced nation of South Korea has the highest percentage of its population with a STEM diploma, with more than 30% of the adult population with a diploma in one of these fields. South Korea is said to have the fastest and most reliable internet in the world. The average IQ in South Korea is 106.

1. Hong Kong (average IQ: 107)

When talking about the smartest countries in the world there is no other than Hong Kong, This is a country that has proven to be one of the smartest countries in the world since time immemorial, a true superpower.

Hong Kong has an extremely developed and successful political and economic system. The country tops the list and is the smartest in the world, with an average IQ of 107!

Which is the Smartest Country in the World?

The USA might have the most Nobel Prize winners and Germany may be able to claim Einstein as theirs, but how do average people perform when it comes to their numerical, verbal and logical cognitive abilities on a global scale?

With data from thousands of psychometric tests, we explored the geographical trends in countries across three core competencies.

Which is the smartest country in the world overall?

According to our psychometric test scores, Poland ranks number 1 overall (84%), followed closely by Belgium (83%) and Hong Kong (77%), across numerical, verbal and logical reasoning.

Most countries measured somewhere between 60–77%.

Which is the smartest country in the world in numerical reasoning?

Belgium has the smartest numerical thinkers (91%), closely followed by Canada (86%) and Poland (85%).

Which is the smartest country in the world in logical thinking?

Poland has the most logical thinkers in the world (92%), closely followed by Hong Kong (82%), Belgium (81%) and Singapore (81%). Most countries averaged a respectable 54–74% in logical reasoning.

Which is the smartest country in the world in verbal reasoning?

Belgium (77)% is the smartest country in verbal reasoning, followed by Poland (74%). Most countries scored an average score of between 51–61%.

Why are global cognitive skills important?

Strong cognitive skills ranked by country demonstrate trends to solve problems, remember tasks or make tricky decisions. Cognitive skills like thinking, reading, learning, retaining information, and listening are a very important part of the brain’s ability to process and think with reasoning.

High scores across all three cognitive skills (numerical, verbal and logical reasoning) is an indication of intelligence and strong intellect.

Numerical reasoning

Numerical reasoning provides insight into the population’s ability to analyze and interpret mathematical problems in the form of data, graphs or tables. Most numerical reasoning tests are timed, so it also is a demonstration of how well people cope under pressure when solving these types of challenges.

Logical reasoning

Logical reasoning is important because it measures a population’s general intelligence. The test usually involves answering questions about different patterns and sequences; you must determine the next pattern in the sequence under timed conditions.

Verbal reasoning

Verbal reasoning is an important global skill because it measures a population’s abilities like perception, vocabulary, understanding complicated questions, empathy and reasoning. This type of test will be multiple-choice, where you must read a passage of text and determine whether something stated is factual, inferred or not true at all.

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