IQ Statistics
Average IQ by Country
You'll often see tables ranking countries by average IQ. The numbers below are the most widely cited published estimates, shown alongside how FreeIQTest.co test takers score. Before reading them, it's worth knowing why researchers treat these figures with a lot of caution.
Read these as rough, contested estimates
Many national figures come from small or unrepresentative samples, different tests and years are mixed together, and some countries are estimated from their neighbors. Scores closely track schooling, nutrition, health, and familiarity with tests, so they describe test performance in a given place and time, not innate ability. Critics argue several developing-country figures are substantially underestimated.
| Country | Published estimate |
|---|---|
| Japan | 106.5 |
| Singapore | 105.9 |
| China | 104.1 |
| South Korea | 102.3 |
| Germany | 100.7 |
| Netherlands | 100.7 |
| Canada | 99.5 |
| Australia | 99.2 |
| United Kingdom | 99.1 |
| United States | 97.4 |
| Sweden | 97.0 |
| France | 96.7 |
| Russia | 96.3 |
| Spain | 93.9 |
| Mexico | 87.7 |
| Turkey | 86.8 |
| Argentina | 86.6 |
| Brazil | 83.4 |
| Philippines | 81.6 |
| Indonesia | 78.5 |
| Egypt | 76.3 |
| India | 76.2 |
| Nigeria | 67.8 |
Once enough people from each country take the FreeIQTest.co test, we'll add our own averages here.
Why the numbers vary so much
- Schooling: more years of education reliably raise test scores.
- Health and nutrition: early-life nutrition and disease burden affect cognitive development.
- The Flynn effect: average scores rose about 3 points per decade in many countries during the 20th century, so older studies aren't comparable to newer ones.
- Test familiarity: people used to timed, multiple-choice tests do better on them.
See also: Average IQ by age