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Digest of Education Statistics
2009 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 402. Average mathematics literacy, reading literacy, and science literacy scores of 15-year-old students, by sex and country: 2006
Country or other jurisdiction Mathematics literacy Reading literacy Science literacy
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
1   2   3   4   5   6   7   8   9   10
OECD total1  484 (1.2) 489 (1.3) 478 (1.3) 484 (1.0) 466 (1.2) 502 (1.3) 491 (1.2) 492 (1.4) 490 (1.3)
OECD average2  498 (0.5) 503 (0.7) 492 (0.6) 492 (0.6) 473 (0.7) 511 (0.7) 500 (0.5) 501 (0.7) 499 (0.6)
Australia 520 (2.2) 527 (3.2) 513 (2.4) 513 (2.1) 495 (3.0) 532 (2.2) 527 (2.3) 527 (3.2) 527 (2.7)
Austria 505 (3.7) 517 (4.4) 494 (4.1) 490 (4.1) 468 (4.9) 513 (5.5) 511 (3.9) 515 (4.2) 507 (4.9)
Belgium 520 (3.0) 524 (4.1) 517 (3.4) 501 (3.0) 482 (4.1) 522 (3.5) 510 (2.5) 511 (3.3) 510 (3.2)
Canada 527 (2.0) 534 (2.4) 520 (2.0) 527 (2.4) 511 (2.8) 543 (2.5) 534 (2.0) 536 (2.5) 532 (2.1)
Czech Republic 510 (3.6) 514 (4.2) 504 (4.8) 483 (4.2) 463 (5.0) 509 (5.4) 513 (3.5) 515 (4.2) 510 (4.8)
                                   
Denmark 513 (2.6) 518 (2.9) 508 (3.0) 494 (3.2) 480 (3.6) 509 (3.5) 496 (3.1) 500 (3.6) 491 (3.4)
Finland 548 (2.3) 554 (2.7) 543 (2.6) 547 (2.1) 521 (2.7) 572 (2.3) 563 (2.0) 562 (2.6) 565 (2.4)
France 496 (3.2) 499 (4.0) 492 (3.3) 488 (4.1) 470 (5.2) 505 (3.9) 495 (3.4) 497 (4.3) 494 (3.6)
Germany 504 (3.9) 513 (4.6) 494 (3.9) 495 (4.4) 475 (5.3) 517 (4.4) 516 (3.8) 519 (4.6) 512 (3.8)
Greece 459 (3.0) 462 (4.3) 457 (3.0) 460 (4.0) 432 (5.7) 488 (3.5) 473 (3.2) 468 (4.5) 479 (3.4)
                                   
Hungary 491 (2.9) 496 (3.5) 486 (3.7) 482 (3.3) 463 (3.7) 503 (3.9) 504 (2.7) 507 (3.3) 501 (3.5)
Iceland 506 (1.8) 503 (2.6) 508 (2.2) 484 (1.9) 460 (2.8) 509 (2.3) 491 (1.6) 488 (2.6) 494 (2.1)
Ireland 501 (2.8) 507 (3.7) 496 (3.2) 517 (3.5) 500 (4.5) 534 (3.8) 508 (3.2) 508 (4.3) 509 (3.3)
Italy 462 (2.3) 470 (2.9) 453 (2.7) 469 (2.4) 448 (3.4) 489 (2.8) 475 (2.0) 477 (2.8) 474 (2.5)
Japan 523 (3.3) 533 (4.8) 513 (4.9) 498 (3.6) 483 (5.4) 513 (5.2) 531 (3.4) 533 (4.9) 530 (5.1)
                                   
Korea, Republic of 547 (3.8) 552 (5.3) 543 (4.5) 556 (3.8) 539 (4.6) 574 (4.5) 522 (3.4) 521 (4.8) 523 (3.9)
Luxembourg 490 (1.1) 498 (1.7) 482 (1.8) 479 (1.3) 464 (2.0) 495 (2.1) 486 (1.1) 491 (1.8) 482 (1.8)
Mexico 406 (2.9) 410 (3.4) 401 (3.1) 410 (3.1) 393 (3.5) 427 (3.0) 410 (2.7) 413 (3.2) 406 (2.6)
Netherlands 531 (2.6) 537 (3.1) 524 (2.8) 507 (2.9) 495 (3.7) 519 (3.0) 525 (2.7) 528 (3.2) 521 (3.1)
New Zealand 522 (2.4) 527 (3.1) 517 (3.6) 521 (3.0) 502 (3.6) 539 (3.6) 530 (2.7) 528 (3.9) 532 (3.6)
                                   
Norway 490 (2.6) 493 (3.3) 487 (2.8) 484 (3.2) 462 (3.8) 508 (3.3) 487 (3.1) 484 (3.8) 489 (3.2)
Poland. 495 (2.4) 500 (2.8) 491 (2.7) 508 (2.8) 487 (3.4) 528 (2.8) 498 (2.3) 500 (2.7) 496 (2.6)
Portugal 466 (3.1) 474 (3.7) 459 (3.2) 472 (3.6) 455 (4.4) 488 (3.5) 474 (3.0) 477 (3.7) 472 (3.2)
Slovak Republic 492 (2.8) 499 (3.7) 485 (3.5) 466 (3.1) 446 (4.2) 488 (3.8) 488 (2.6) 491 (3.9) 485 (3.0)
Spain 480 (2.3) 484 (2.6) 476 (2.6) 461 (2.2) 443 (2.6) 479 (2.3) 488 (2.6) 491 (2.9) 486 (2.7)
                                   
Sweden 502 (2.4) 505 (2.7) 500 (3.0) 507 (3.4) 488 (4.0) 528 (3.5) 503 (2.4) 504 (2.7) 503 (2.9)
Switzerland 530 (3.2) 536 (3.3) 523 (3.6) 499 (3.1) 484 (3.2) 515 (3.3) 512 (3.2) 514 (3.3) 509 (3.6)
Turkey 424 (4.9) 427 (5.6) 421 (5.1) 447 (4.2) 427 (5.1) 471 (4.3) 424 (3.8) 418 (4.6) 430 (4.1)
United Kingdom 495 (2.1) 504 (2.6) 487 (2.6) 495 (2.3) 480 (3.0) 510 (2.6) 515 (2.3) 520 (3.0) 510 (2.8)
United States3 474 (4.0) 479 (4.6) 470 (3.9) (†) (†) (†) 489 (4.2) 489 (5.1) 489 (4.0)
                                   
Reporting partner countries                                    
Argentina 381 (6.2) 388 (6.5) 375 (7.2) 374 (7.2) 345 (8.3) 399 (7.4) 391 (6.1) 384 (6.5) 397 (6.8)
Azerbaijan 476 (2.3) 475 (2.4) 477 (2.6) 353 (3.1) 343 (3.5) 363 (3.3) 382 (2.8) 379 (3.1) 386 (2.7)
Brazil 370 (2.9) 380 (3.4) 361 (3.0) 393 (3.7) 376 (4.3) 408 (3.7) 390 (2.8) 395 (3.2) 386 (2.9)
Bulgaria 413 (6.1) 412 (6.7) 415 (6.5) 402 (6.9) 374 (7.7) 432 (6.9) 434 (6.1) 426 (6.6) 443 (6.9)
Chile 411 (4.6) 424 (5.5) 396 (4.7) 442 (5.0) 434 (6.0) 451 (5.4) 438 (4.3) 448 (5.4) 426 (4.4)
                                   
Colombia 370 (3.8) 382 (4.1) 360 (5.0) 385 (5.1) 375 (5.6) 394 (5.6) 388 (3.4) 393 (4.1) 384 (4.1)
Croatia 467 (2.4) 474 (3.2) 461 (2.8) 477 (2.8) 452 (3.8) 502 (3.3) 493 (2.4) 492 (3.3) 494 (3.1)
Estonia 515 (2.7) 515 (3.3) 514 (3.0) 501 (2.9) 478 (3.2) 524 (3.1) 531 (2.5) 530 (3.1) 533 (2.9)
Hong Kong-China 547 (2.7) 555 (3.9) 540 (3.7) 536 (2.4) 520 (3.5) 551 (3.0) 542 (2.5) 546 (3.5) 539 (3.5)
Indonesia 391 (5.6) 399 (8.3) 382 (4.0) 393 (5.9) 384 (8.7) 402 (4.2) 393 (5.7) 399 (8.2) 387 (3.7)
                                   
Israel 442 (4.3) 448 (6.6) 436 (4.3) 439 (4.6) 417 (6.5) 460 (4.6) 454 (3.7) 456 (5.6) 452 (4.2)
Jordan 384 (3.3) 381 (5.3) 388 (3.9) 401 (3.3) 373 (5.6) 428 (3.4) 422 (2.8) 408 (4.5) 436 (3.3)
Kyrgyzstan 311 (3.4) 311 (4.0) 310 (3.4) 285 (3.5) 257 (4.4) 308 (3.3) 322 (2.9) 319 (3.6) 325 (3.0)
Latvia 486 (3.0) 489 (3.5) 484 (3.2) 479 (3.7) 454 (4.3) 504 (3.5) 490 (3.0) 486 (3.5) 493 (3.2)
Liechtenstein 525 (4.2) 525 (7.4) 525 (7.0) 510 (3.9) 486 (7.7) 531 (6.3) 522 (4.1) 516 (7.6) 527 (6.3)
                                   
Lithuania 486 (2.9) 487 (3.3) 485 (3.3) 470 (3.0) 445 (3.5) 496 (3.2) 488 (2.8) 483 (3.1) 493 (3.1)
Macao-China 525 (1.3) 530 (2.1) 520 (1.7) 492 (1.1) 479 (1.8) 505 (1.5) 511 (1.1) 513 (1.8) 509 (1.6)
Montenegro 399 (1.4) 405 (2.3) 393 (1.9) 392 (1.2) 370 (2.0) 415 (1.8) 412 (1.1) 411 (1.7) 413 (1.7)
Qatar 318 (1.0) 311 (1.6) 325 (1.3) 312 (1.2) 280 (1.9) 346 (1.6) 349 (0.9) 334 (1.2) 365 (1.3)
Romania 415 (4.2) 418 (4.2) 412 (4.9) 396 (4.7) 374 (4.5) 418 (5.2) 418 (4.2) 417 (4.1) 419 (4.8)
                                   
Russian Federation 476 (3.9) 479 (4.6) 473 (3.9) 440 (4.3) 420 (4.8) 458 (4.3) 479 (3.7) 481 (4.1) 478 (3.7)
Serbia 435 (3.5) 438 (4.0) 433 (4.4) 401 (3.5) 381 (3.4) 422 (4.2) 436 (3.0) 433 (3.3) 438 (3.8)
Slovenia 504 (1.0) 507 (1.8) 502 (1.8) 494 (1.0) 467 (1.9) 521 (1.4) 519 (1.1) 515 (2.0) 523 (1.9)
Chinese Taipei 549 (4.1) 556 (4.7) 543 (5.9) 496 (3.4) 486 (4.4) 507 (4.2) 532 (3.6) 536 (4.3) 529 (5.1)
Thailand 417 (2.3) 413 (3.8) 420 (2.6) 417 (2.6) 386 (4.0) 440 (3.0) 421 (2.1) 411 (3.4) 428 (2.5)
                                   
Tunisia 365 (4.0) 373 (4.4) 358 (4.4) 380 (4.0) 361 (4.6) 398 (3.9) 386 (3.0) 383 (3.2) 388 (3.5)
Uruguay 427 (2.6) 433 (3.6) 420 (3.1) 413 (3.4) 389 (4.4) 435 (3.8) 428 (2.7) 427 (4.0) 430 (2.7)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 Illustrates how a country compares with the OECD area as a whole. Computed taking the OECD countries as a single entity, to which each country contributes in proportion to the number of 15-year-olds enrolled in its schools.
2 Refers to the mean of the data values for all OECD countries, to which each country contributes equally, regardless of the absolute size of the student population of each country.
3 PISA 2006 reading literacy results are not reported for the United States because of an error in printing the test booklets. In several areas of the reading literacy assessment, students were incorrectly instructed to refer to the passage on the “opposite page” when, in fact, the necessary passage appeared on the previous page. Because of the small number of items used in assessing reading literacy, it was not possible to recalibrate the score to exclude the affected items. Also as a result of the printing error, the mean performance in mathematics and science may be misestimated by approximately 1 score point. The impact is below one standard error.
NOTE: PISA scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2006, PISA 2006: Science Competencies for Tomorrow's World. (This table was prepared July 2008.)

2009 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest