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Digest of Education Statistics
2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 389. Average mathematics literacy, reading literacy, science literacy, and problem-solving scores of 15-year-olds, by sex and country: 2003
Country Mathematics literacy Reading literacy Science literacy Problem solving
Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
OECD total1 489 (1.1) 494 (1.3) 484 (1.3) 488 (1.2) 472 (1.4) 503 (1.3) 496 (1.1) 499 (1.3) 493 (1.3) 490 (1.2) 489 (1.4) 490 (1.3)
OECD average2 500 (0.6) 506 (0.8) 494 (0.8) 494 (0.6) 477 (0.7) 511 (0.7) 500 (0.6) 503 (0.7) 497 (0.8) 500 (0.6) 499 (0.8) 501 (0.8)
Australia 524 (2.1) 527 (3.0) 522 (2.7) 525 (2.1) 506 (2.8) 545 (2.6) 525 (2.1) 525 (2.9) 525 (2.8) 530 (2.0) 527 (2.7) 533 (2.5)
Austria 506 (3.3) 509 (4.0) 502 (4.0) 491 (3.8) 467 (4.5) 514 (4.2) 491 (3.4) 490 (4.3) 492 (4.2) 506 (3.2) 505 (3.9) 508 (3.8)
Belgium 529 (2.3) 533 (3.4) 525 (3.2) 507 (2.6) 489 (3.8) 526 (3.3) 509 (2.5) 509 (3.6) 509 (3.5) 525 (2.2) 524 (3.1) 527 (3.2)
Canada 532 (1.8) 541 (2.1) 530 (1.9) 528 (1.7) 514 (2.0) 546 (1.8) 519 (2.0) 527 (2.3) 516 (2.2) 529 (1.7) 533 (2.0) 532 (1.8)
Czech Republic 516 (3.5) 524 (4.3) 509 (4.4) 489 (3.5) 473 (4.1) 504 (4.4) 523 (3.4) 526 (4.3) 520 (4.1) 516 (3.4) 520 (4.1) 513 (4.3)
                                                 
Denmark 514 (2.7) 523 (3.4) 506 (3.0) 492 (2.8) 479 (3.3) 505 (3.0) 475 (3.0) 484 (3.6) 467 (3.2) 517 (2.5) 519 (3.1) 514 (2.9)
Finland 544 (1.9) 548 (2.5) 541 (2.1) 543 (1.6) 521 (2.2) 565 (2.0) 548 (1.9) 545 (2.6) 551 (2.2) 548 (1.9) 543 (2.5) 553 (2.2)
France 511 (2.5) 515 (3.6) 507 (2.9) 496 (2.7) 476 (3.8) 514 (3.2) 511 (3.0) 511 (4.1) 511 (3.5) 519 (2.7) 519 (3.8) 520 (2.9)
Germany 503 (3.3) 508 (4.0) 499 (3.9) 491 (3.4) 471 (4.2) 513 (3.9) 502 (3.6) 506 (4.5) 500 (4.2) 513 (3.2) 511 (3.9) 517 (3.7)
Greece 445 (3.9) 455 (4.8) 436 (3.8) 472 (4.1) 453 (5.1) 490 (4.0) 481 (3.8) 487 (4.8) 475 (3.9) 449 (4.0) 449 (4.9) 448 (4.1)
                                                 
Hungary 490 (2.8) 494 (3.3) 486 (3.3) 482 (2.5) 467 (3.2) 498 (3.0) 503 (2.8) 503 (3.3) 504 (3.3) 501 (2.9) 499 (3.4) 503 (3.4)
Iceland 515 (1.4) 508 (2.3) 523 (2.2) 492 (1.6) 464 (2.3) 522 (2.2) 495 (1.5) 490 (2.4) 500 (2.4) 505 (1.4) 490 (2.2) 520 (2.5)
Ireland 503 (2.4) 510 (3.0) 495 (3.4) 515 (2.6) 501 (3.3) 530 (3.7) 505 (2.7) 506 (3.1) 504 (3.9) 498 (2.3) 499 (2.8) 498 (3.5)
Italy 466 (3.1) 475 (4.6) 457 (3.8) 476 (3.0) 455 (5.1) 495 (3.4) 486 (3.1) 490 (5.2) 484 (3.6) 470 (3.1) 467 (5.0) 471 (3.5)
Japan 534 (4.0) 539 (5.8) 530 (4.0) 498 (3.9) 487 (5.5) 509 (4.1) 548 (4.1) 550 (6.0) 546 (4.1) 547 (4.1) 546 (5.7) 548 (4.1)
                                                 
Korea, Republic of 542 (3.2) 552 (4.4) 528 (5.3) 534 (3.1) 525 (3.7) 547 (4.3) 538 (3.5) 546 (4.7) 527 (5.5) 550 (3.1) 554 (4.0) 546 (4.8)
Luxembourg 493 (1.0) 502 (1.9) 485 (1.5) 479 (1.5) 463 (2.6) 496 (1.8) 483 (1.5) 489 (2.5) 477 (1.9) 494 (1.4) 495 (2.4) 492 (1.9)
Mexico 385 (3.6) 391 (4.3) 380 (4.1) 400 (4.1) 389 (4.6) 410 (4.6) 405 (3.5) 410 (3.9) 400 (4.2) 384 (4.3) 387 (5.0) 382 (4.7)
Netherlands 538 (3.1) 540 (4.1) 535 (3.5) 513 (2.9) 503 (3.7) 524 (3.2) 524 (3.1) 527 (4.2) 522 (3.6) 520 (3.0) 522 (3.6) 518 (3.6)
New Zealand 523 (2.3) 531 (2.8) 516 (3.2) 522 (2.5) 508 (3.1) 535 (3.3) 521 (2.4) 529 (3.0) 513 (3.4) 533 (2.2) 531 (2.6) 534 (3.1)
                                                 
Norway 495 (2.4) 498 (2.8) 492 (2.9) 500 (2.8) 475 (3.4) 525 (3.4) 484 (2.9) 485 (3.5) 483 (3.3) 490 (2.6) 486 (3.1) 494 (3.2)
Poland 490 (2.5) 493 (3.0) 487 (2.9) 497 (2.9) 477 (3.6) 516 (3.2) 498 (2.9) 501 (3.2) 494 (3.4) 487 (2.8) 486 (3.4) 487 (3.0)
Portugal 466 (3.4) 472 (4.2) 460 (3.4) 478 (3.7) 459 (4.3) 495 (3.7) 468 (3.5) 471 (4.0) 465 (3.6) 470 (3.9) 470 (4.6) 470 (3.9)
Slovak Republic 498 (3.3) 507 (3.9) 489 (3.6) 469 (3.1) 453 (3.8) 486 (3.3) 495 (3.7) 502 (4.3) 487 (3.9) 492 (3.4) 495 (4.1) 488 (3.6)
Spain 485 (2.4) 490 (3.4) 481 (2.2) 481 (2.6) 461 (3.8) 500 (2.5) 487 (2.6) 489 (3.9) 485 (2.6) 482 (2.7) 479 (3.6) 485 (2.6)
                                                 
Sweden 509 (2.6) 512 (3.0) 506 (3.1) 514 (2.4) 496 (2.8) 533 (2.9) 506 (2.7) 509 (3.1) 504 (3.5) 509 (2.4) 504 (3.0) 514 (2.8)
Switzerland 527 (3.4) 535 (4.7) 518 (3.6) 499 (3.3) 482 (4.4) 517 (3.1) 513 (3.7) 518 (5.0) 508 (3.9) 521 (3.0) 520 (4.0) 523 (3.3)
Turkey 423 (6.7) 430 (7.9) 415 (6.7) 441 (5.8) 426 (6.8) 459 (6.1) 434 (5.9) 434 (6.7) 434 (6.4) 408 (6.0) 408 (7.3) 406 (5.8)
United Kingdom3  508 (2.4) 512 (2.9) 505 (3.9) 507 (2.5) 492 (3.1) 520 (3.6) 518 (2.5) 520 (3.1) 517 (4.0) 510 (2.4) 506 (3.0) 514 (3.5)
United States 483 (2.9) 486 (3.3) 480 (3.2) 495 (3.2) 479 (3.7) 511 (3.5) 491 (3.1) 494 (3.5) 489 (3.5) 477 (3.1) 477 (3.4) 478 (3.5)
                                                 
Non-OECD countries or other jurisdictions                                                
Brazil 356 (4.8) 365 (6.1) 348 (4.4) 403 (4.6) 384 (5.8) 419 (4.1) 390 (4.3) 393 (5.3) 387 (4.3) 371 (4.8) 374 (6.0) 368 (4.3)
Hong Kong-China 550 (4.5) 552 (6.5) 548 (4.6) 510 (3.7) 494 (5.3) 525 (3.5) 539 (4.3) 538 (6.1) 541 (4.2) 548 (4.2) 545 (6.2) 550 (4.0)
Indonesia 360 (3.9) 362 (3.9) 358 (4.6) 382 (3.4) 369 (3.4) 394 (3.9) 395 (3.2) 396 (3.1) 394 (3.8) 361 (3.3) 358 (3.1) 365 (4.0)
Latvia 483 (3.7) 485 (4.8) 482 (3.6) 491 (3.7) 470 (4.5) 509 (3.7) 489 (3.9) 487 (5.1) 491 (3.9) 483 (3.9) 481 (5.1) 484 (4.0)
Liechtenstein 536 (4.1) 550 (7.2) 521 (6.3) 525 (3.6) 517 (7.2) 534 (6.5) 525 (4.3) 538 (7.7) 512 (7.3) 529 (3.9) 535 (6.6) 524 (5.9)
                                                 
Macao-China 527 (2.9) 538 (4.8) 517 (3.3) 498 (2.2) 491 (3.6) 504 (2.8) 525 (3.0) 529 (5.0) 521 (4.0) 532 (2.5) 538 (4.3) 527 (3.2)
Russian Federation 468 (4.2) 473 (5.3) 463 (4.2) 442 (3.9) 428 (4.7) 456 (3.7) 489 (4.1) 494 (5.3) 485 (4.0) 479 (4.6) 480 (5.9) 477 (4.4)
Serbia and Montenegro 437 (3.8) 437 (4.2) 436 (4.5) 412 (3.6) 390 (3.7) 433 (3.9) 436 (3.5) 434 (3.7) 439 (4.2) 420 (3.3) 416 (3.8) 424 (3.9)
Thailand 417 (3.0) 415 (4.0) 419 (3.4) 420 (2.8) 396 (3.7) 439 (3.0) 429 (2.7) 425 (3.7) 433 (3.1) 425 (2.7) 418 (3.9) 431 (3.1)
Tunisia 359 (2.5) 365 (2.7) 353 (2.9) 375 (2.8) 362 (3.3) 387 (3.3) 385 (2.6) 380 (2.7) 390 (3.0) 345 (2.1) 346 (2.5) 343 (2.5)
Uruguay 422 (3.3) 428 (4.0) 416 (3.8) 434 (3.4) 414 (4.5) 453 (3.7) 438 (2.9) 441 (3.7) 436 (3.6) 411 (3.7) 412 (4.6) 409 (4.2)
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 Response rate is too low to ensure comparability with other countries.
NOTE: Scales were designed to have an average score of 500 points and standard deviation of 100. Possible scores range from 0 to 1,000. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2003, Learning for Tomorrow's World, 2003, and Problem Solving for Tomorrow's World, 2003. U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, PISA, 2003, International Outcomes of Learning in Mathematics Literacy and Problem Solving, 2003. (This table was prepared March 2005.)

2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest