Digest of Education Statistics
2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 602.60. Average mathematics literacy scores of 15-year-old students and percentage attaining mathematics literacy proficiency levels, by country or other education system: 2018
[Standard errors appear in parentheses]
Country or other education
system
Average
mathematics
literacy
score1
Percentage attaining mathematics literacy proficiency levels2
Below level 2 At level 2 At level 3 At level 4 At or above level 5
Total below
level 2
Below
level 1
At level 1 Total
at or above
level 5
At level 5 At level 6
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
OECD average3 489   (0.4) 24.0   (0.17) 9.1   (0.12) 14.8   (0.12) 22.2   (0.14) 24.4   (0.14) 18.5   (0.12) 10.9   (0.12) 8.5   (0.10) 2.4   (0.06)
Australia 491   (1.9) 22.4   (0.68) 7.6   (0.50) 14.8   (0.53) 23.4   (0.52) 25.6   (0.51) 18.2   (0.47) 10.5   (0.54) 8.0   (0.38) 2.5   (0.28)
Austria 499   (3.0) 21.1   (1.18) 7.3   (0.66) 13.8   (0.80) 20.8   (0.95) 24.9   (0.95) 20.6   (0.82) 12.6   (0.82) 10.0   (0.67) 2.5   (0.33)
Belgium 508   (2.3) 19.7   (0.89) 6.9   (0.65) 12.8   (0.64) 18.6   (0.65) 23.8   (0.76) 22.2   (0.75) 15.7   (0.87) 12.5   (0.63) 3.2   (0.40)
Canada 512   (2.4) 16.3   (0.72) 5.0   (0.40) 11.3   (0.52) 20.8   (0.61) 25.9   (0.57) 21.7   (0.74) 15.3   (0.70) 11.3   (0.49) 4.0   (0.33)
Chile 417   (2.4) 51.9   (1.32) 24.7   (1.11) 27.2   (0.95) 25.5   (0.89) 15.6   (0.76) 5.7   (0.48) 1.2   (0.18) 1.1   (0.17) 0.1 ! (0.05)

Colombia4
391   (3.0) 65.4   (1.57) 35.5   (1.69) 29.9   (1.22) 21.1   (0.91) 10.0   (0.69) 3.1   (0.38) 0.5   (0.14) 0.5   (0.14) # !! (†)
Czech Republic 499   (2.5) 20.4   (1.10) 6.6   (0.69) 13.8   (0.71) 22.1   (0.82) 25.2   (0.93) 19.6   (0.74) 12.7   (0.72) 9.5   (0.53) 3.1   (0.33)
Denmark 509   (1.7) 14.6   (0.64) 3.7   (0.35) 10.9   (0.58) 22.0   (0.87) 28.8   (0.84) 23.0   (0.79) 11.6   (0.70) 9.5   (0.60) 2.1   (0.31)
Estonia 523   (1.7) 10.2   (0.64) 2.1   (0.27) 8.1   (0.57) 20.8   (0.81) 29.0   (0.82) 24.6   (0.76) 15.5   (0.77) 11.8   (0.68) 3.7   (0.40)
Finland 507   (2.0) 15.0   (0.74) 3.8   (0.40) 11.1   (0.56) 22.3   (0.85) 28.9   (0.99) 22.7   (0.81) 11.1   (0.62) 9.3   (0.54) 1.8   (0.29)

France
495   (2.3) 21.3   (0.82) 8.0   (0.53) 13.2   (0.62) 21.1   (0.80) 25.6   (0.79) 21.0   (0.82) 11.0   (0.76) 9.2   (0.63) 1.8   (0.27)
Germany 500   (2.6) 21.1   (1.07) 7.6   (0.67) 13.5   (0.83) 20.7   (0.90) 24.0   (0.76) 20.8   (0.82) 13.3   (0.79) 10.5   (0.72) 2.8   (0.30)
Greece 451   (3.1) 35.8   (1.47) 15.3   (1.15) 20.5   (0.92) 26.8   (0.87) 22.5   (0.96) 11.1   (0.61) 3.7   (0.49) 3.2   (0.40) 0.5 ! (0.18)
Hungary 481   (2.3) 25.6   (1.01) 9.6   (0.72) 16.1   (0.82) 23.6   (0.87) 25.2   (0.99) 17.5   (0.84) 8.0   (0.69) 6.5   (0.55) 1.4   (0.26)
Iceland 495   (2.0) 20.7   (0.96) 7.4   (0.54) 13.3   (0.71) 22.0   (0.99) 26.7   (0.98) 20.2   (0.89) 10.4   (0.61) 8.5   (0.63) 1.9   (0.31)

Ireland
500   (2.2) 15.7   (0.82) 3.8   (0.48) 11.9   (0.72) 24.7   (0.79) 30.5   (0.81) 20.8   (0.81) 8.2   (0.67) 7.2   (0.60) 1.0   (0.21)
Israel 463   (3.5) 34.1   (1.40) 17.7   (1.11) 16.4   (0.80) 20.7   (0.75) 21.0   (0.83) 15.4   (0.77) 8.8   (0.65) 7.0   (0.58) 1.8   (0.27)
Italy 487   (2.8) 23.8   (1.11) 9.1   (0.77) 14.8   (0.88) 22.9   (1.02) 25.6   (0.94) 18.1   (0.79) 9.5   (0.83) 7.5   (0.59) 2.0   (0.34)
Japan 527   (2.5) 11.5   (0.76) 2.9   (0.36) 8.6   (0.56) 18.7   (0.79) 26.4   (0.88) 25.1   (0.96) 18.3   (1.06) 14.0   (0.78) 4.3   (0.54)
Korea, Republic of 526   (3.1) 15.0   (0.90) 5.4   (0.55) 9.6   (0.65) 17.3   (0.76) 23.4   (0.74) 22.9   (0.75) 21.4   (1.11) 14.4   (0.70) 6.9   (0.78)

Latvia
496   (2.0) 17.3   (1.01) 4.4   (0.48) 12.9   (0.80) 25.8   (0.92) 29.4   (1.03) 19.0   (0.80) 8.5   (0.59) 7.1   (0.54) 1.4   (0.23)
Lithuania 481   (2.0) 25.6   (0.92) 9.3   (0.61) 16.4   (0.71) 24.2   (0.72) 25.2   (0.86) 16.5   (0.80) 8.4   (0.51) 6.8   (0.49) 1.7   (0.23)
Luxembourg 483   (1.1) 27.2   (0.70) 10.9   (0.62) 16.4   (0.62) 21.7   (0.85) 22.6   (0.75) 17.7   (0.69) 10.8   (0.56) 8.6   (0.50) 2.3   (0.34)
Mexico4 409   (2.5) 56.2   (1.39) 26.0   (1.19) 30.3   (0.91) 26.4   (0.93) 13.1   (0.77) 3.7   (0.46) 0.5   (0.13) 0.5   (0.12) # !! (†)
Netherlands5 519   (2.6) 15.8   (1.08) 4.5   (0.57) 11.2   (0.70) 19.0   (1.04) 23.2   (1.09) 23.6   (0.94) 18.4   (0.97) 14.2   (0.78) 4.3   (0.49)

New Zealand
494   (1.7) 21.8   (0.80) 7.6   (0.49) 14.2   (0.63) 22.8   (0.77) 25.0   (0.73) 18.9   (0.74) 11.6   (0.52) 8.8   (0.44) 2.7   (0.30)
Norway 501   (2.2) 18.9   (0.84) 6.5   (0.48) 12.4   (0.56) 21.8   (0.77) 26.5   (0.77) 20.6   (0.86) 12.2   (0.71) 9.8   (0.62) 2.4   (0.35)
Poland 516   (2.6) 14.7   (0.78) 4.2   (0.46) 10.5   (0.59) 20.7   (0.79) 26.5   (0.78) 22.3   (0.75) 15.8   (1.01) 11.7   (0.72) 4.1   (0.52)
Portugal6 492   (2.7) 23.3   (1.04) 9.3   (0.65) 14.0   (0.83) 20.9   (0.84) 24.5   (1.11) 19.7   (0.78) 11.6   (0.74) 9.1   (0.61) 2.5   (0.34)
Slovak Republic 486   (2.6) 25.1   (1.08) 10.7   (0.86) 14.4   (0.65) 21.4   (0.88) 24.2   (0.95) 18.6   (0.86) 10.7   (0.69) 8.4   (0.57) 2.3   (0.30)

Slovenia
509   (1.4) 16.4   (0.64) 4.8   (0.59) 11.7   (0.67) 21.6   (0.90) 26.4   (0.91) 22.0   (0.81) 13.6   (0.72) 10.5   (0.77) 3.1   (0.41)
Spain7 481   (1.5) 24.7   (0.62) 8.7   (0.42) 16.0   (0.47) 24.4   (0.43) 26.0   (0.63) 17.5   (0.47) 7.3   (0.41) 6.2   (0.32) 1.1   (0.13)
Sweden 502   (2.7) 18.8   (1.03) 6.0   (0.63) 12.8   (0.75) 21.9   (0.90) 25.7   (0.82) 21.0   (0.82) 12.6   (0.77) 10.0   (0.66) 2.6   (0.32)
Switzerland 515   (2.9) 16.8   (0.94) 4.8   (0.45) 12.0   (0.75) 19.5   (0.88) 24.4   (0.97) 22.3   (0.86) 17.0   (1.03) 12.1   (0.74) 4.9   (0.54)
Turkey4 454   (2.3) 36.7   (1.08) 13.8   (0.87) 22.9   (0.75) 27.3   (0.84) 20.4   (0.84) 10.9   (0.53) 4.8   (0.59) 3.9   (0.44) 0.9   (0.25)

United Kingdom
502   (2.6) 19.2   (0.90) 6.4   (0.54) 12.8   (0.63) 22.0   (0.78) 25.5   (0.68) 20.4   (0.70) 12.9   (0.79) 9.8   (0.64) 3.1   (0.36)
United States5 478   (3.2) 27.1   (1.38) 10.2   (0.85) 16.9   (0.90) 24.2   (0.98) 24.1   (0.96) 16.3   (0.94) 8.3   (0.80) 6.8   (0.73) 1.5   (0.29)

Non-OECD education systems
                                                           
Albania 437   (2.4) 42.4   (1.38) 16.9   (0.87) 25.5   (0.88) 28.6   (0.98) 19.3   (0.85) 7.5   (0.66) 2.3   (0.27) 2.0   (0.24) 0.3 ! (0.13)
Argentina 379   (2.8) 69.0   (1.31) 40.5   (1.58) 28.5   (1.04) 19.6   (0.88) 8.8   (0.65) 2.3   (0.26) 0.3   (0.09) 0.3   (0.10) # !! (†)
Baku (Azerbaijan)8 420   (2.8) 50.7   (1.33) 24.7   (1.00) 26.1   (0.82) 25.2   (0.85) 15.7   (0.71) 6.4   (0.59) 2.0   (0.32) 1.7   (0.27) 0.3 ! (0.10)
Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu,
     Zhejiang (China)
591   (2.5) 2.4   (0.38) 0.5   (0.15) 1.9   (0.30) 6.9   (0.52) 17.5   (0.78) 28.9   (0.98) 44.3   (1.34) 27.8   (0.97) 16.5   (1.15)
Belarus 472   (2.7) 29.4   (1.09) 11.4   (0.73) 18.0   (0.72) 24.7   (0.86) 23.4   (0.75) 15.2   (0.75) 7.3   (0.64) 6.1   (0.53) 1.2   (0.24)

Bosnia and Herzegovina
406   (3.1) 57.6   (1.58) 28.7   (1.35) 28.9   (1.02) 24.2   (0.90) 13.1   (0.80) 4.3   (0.47) 0.8   (0.19) 0.7   (0.19) 0.1 !! (0.04)
Brazil4 384   (2.0) 68.1   (0.95) 41.0   (0.99) 27.1   (0.71) 18.2   (0.67) 9.3   (0.47) 3.4   (0.32) 0.9   (0.19) 0.8   (0.17) 0.1 ! (0.05)
Brunei Darussalam 430   (1.2) 47.9   (0.66) 22.1   (0.80) 25.7   (0.78) 24.0   (0.61) 16.2   (0.53) 8.9   (0.46) 3.0   (0.30) 2.7   (0.28) 0.4   (0.08)
Bulgaria4 436   (3.8) 44.4   (1.67) 21.9   (1.40) 22.5   (0.83) 23.7   (0.95) 18.2   (0.98) 9.4   (0.65) 4.2   (0.63) 3.3   (0.50) 0.9   (0.22)
Chinese Taipei 531   (2.9) 14.0   (0.75) 5.0   (0.41) 9.0   (0.51) 16.1   (0.70) 23.2   (0.80) 23.5   (0.77) 23.2   (1.13) 15.6   (0.80) 7.6   (0.76)

Costa Rica4
402   (3.3) 60.0   (1.91) 27.8   (1.28) 32.2   (1.22) 25.6   (1.23) 11.2   (1.03) 2.8   (0.55) 0.3 ! (0.12) 0.3 ! (0.12) # !! (†)
Croatia 464   (2.5) 31.2   (1.27) 11.0   (0.82) 20.2   (0.83) 27.4   (0.87) 23.3   (0.80) 13.0   (0.75) 5.1   (0.53) 4.3   (0.48) 0.8   (0.20)
Cyprus 451   (1.4) 36.9   (0.71) 17.2   (0.62) 19.7   (0.66) 24.7   (0.90) 22.0   (0.85) 12.1   (0.55) 4.4   (0.39) 3.7   (0.35) 0.7   (0.15)
Dominican Republic4 325   (2.6) 90.6   (0.97) 69.3   (1.40) 21.3   (0.95) 7.3   (0.63) 1.8   (0.41) 0.3 ! (0.11) # !! (†) # !! (†) #   (†)
Georgia 398   (2.6) 61.1   (1.29) 33.7   (1.23) 27.3   (1.06) 21.6   (0.81) 11.9   (0.79) 4.4   (0.51) 1.0   (0.29) 0.9   (0.27) 0.1 !! (0.07)

Hong Kong (China)5
551   (3.0) 9.2   (0.80) 2.8   (0.42) 6.4   (0.57) 13.5   (0.71) 22.1   (0.73) 26.3   (0.91) 29.0   (1.08) 19.5   (0.76) 9.5   (0.76)
Indonesia 379   (3.1) 71.9   (1.52) 40.6   (1.64) 31.3   (1.19) 18.6   (0.98) 6.8   (0.66) 2.3   (0.51) 0.5 ! (0.16) 0.4 ! (0.15) # !! (†)
Jordan4 400   (3.3) 59.3   (1.61) 30.7   (1.40) 28.6   (0.85) 24.0   (0.92) 12.4   (0.83) 3.6   (0.46) 0.7 ! (0.22) 0.6 ! (0.19) 0.1 !! (0.08)
Kazakhstan 423   (1.9) 49.1   (0.95) 22.3   (0.82) 26.8   (0.62) 26.6   (0.65) 16.0   (0.55) 6.3   (0.40) 1.9   (0.20) 1.6   (0.18) 0.3   (0.09)
Kosovo 366   (1.5) 76.6   (0.93) 47.0   (0.98) 29.6   (1.11) 16.5   (0.80) 5.4   (0.40) 1.4   (0.25) 0.1 !! (0.09) 0.1 !! (0.09) # !! (†)

Lebanon
393   (4.0) 59.8   (1.75) 38.0   (1.68) 21.8   (1.00) 19.1   (1.08) 13.1   (0.87) 6.0   (0.54) 2.0   (0.26) 1.7   (0.25) 0.3 ! (0.11)
Macao (China) 558   (1.5) 5.0   (0.49) 1.0   (0.21) 4.0   (0.42) 12.3   (0.76) 24.8   (0.91) 30.3   (1.21) 27.6   (0.83) 20.0   (0.78) 7.7   (0.59)
Malaysia4 440   (2.9) 41.5   (1.43) 16.1   (0.89) 25.4   (0.97) 28.3   (0.86) 19.3   (0.87) 8.5   (0.68) 2.5   (0.45) 2.2   (0.39) 0.3 ! (0.13)
Malta 472   (1.9) 30.2   (0.98) 14.3   (0.68) 15.9   (0.81) 21.5   (1.04) 23.2   (1.09) 16.6   (0.74) 8.5   (0.66) 6.7   (0.58) 1.8   (0.28)
Moldova, Republic of 421   (2.4) 50.3   (1.11) 26.1   (0.91) 24.2   (0.87) 23.5   (0.89) 16.5   (0.66) 7.3   (0.57) 2.4   (0.40) 2.0   (0.33) 0.4 ! (0.15)

Montenegro, Republic of
430   (1.2) 46.2   (0.76) 19.9   (0.69) 26.3   (0.68) 27.3   (0.74) 17.9   (0.54) 6.9   (0.39) 1.8   (0.21) 1.6   (0.21) 0.2 ! (0.06)
Morocco4 368   (3.3) 75.6   (1.60) 47.1   (1.89) 28.5   (0.97) 16.9   (1.01) 6.2   (0.61) 1.2   (0.23) 0.1 ! (0.06) 0.1 ! (0.06) # !! (†)
North Macedonia 394   (1.6) 61.0   (0.89) 35.2   (0.82) 25.8   (0.82) 21.3   (0.75) 12.1   (0.72) 4.5   (0.43) 1.1   (0.21) 1.0   (0.19) 0.1 ! (0.07)
Panama4 353   (2.7) 81.2   (1.33) 53.7   (1.42) 27.5   (0.98) 13.5   (0.80) 4.3   (0.63) 0.9   (0.24) 0.1 !! (0.07) 0.1 !! (0.07) # !! (†)
Peru4 400   (2.6) 60.3   (1.31) 32.0   (1.16) 28.3   (0.85) 23.1   (0.85) 11.6   (0.68) 4.1   (0.46) 0.9   (0.20) 0.8   (0.19) 0.1 !! (0.04)

Philippines4
353   (3.5) 80.7   (1.56) 54.4   (1.65) 26.3   (0.93) 13.6   (0.99) 4.7   (0.68) 0.9 ! (0.30) 0.1 !! (0.05) 0.1 !! (0.05) # !! (†)
Qatar 414   (1.2) 53.7   (0.64) 29.7   (0.66) 24.0   (0.54) 21.9   (0.49) 14.6   (0.37) 6.9   (0.28) 2.9   (0.20) 2.4   (0.18) 0.6   (0.08)
Romania4 430   (4.9) 46.6   (2.26) 22.6   (1.57) 23.9   (1.17) 24.5   (1.06) 17.3   (1.06) 8.5   (0.96) 3.2   (0.60) 2.7   (0.52) 0.4 ! (0.16)
Russian Federation 488   (3.0) 21.6   (1.26) 6.8   (0.70) 14.9   (0.82) 25.0   (0.94) 27.5   (0.85) 17.8   (0.83) 8.1   (0.71) 6.6   (0.57) 1.5   (0.24)
Saudi Arabia 373   (3.0) 72.7   (1.48) 42.8   (1.65) 29.9   (1.00) 18.8   (1.13) 6.8   (0.57) 1.5   (0.28) 0.2 ! (0.09) 0.2 !! (0.08) # !! (†)

Serbia
448   (3.2) 39.7   (1.40) 18.1   (1.12) 21.6   (0.81) 24.1   (0.80) 19.2   (0.81) 11.7   (0.70) 5.2   (0.44) 4.2   (0.37) 1.0   (0.20)
Singapore 569   (1.6) 7.1   (0.40) 1.8   (0.22) 5.3   (0.41) 11.1   (0.53) 19.1   (0.66) 25.8   (0.82) 36.9   (0.84) 23.2   (0.71) 13.8   (0.75)
Thailand4 419   (3.4) 52.7   (1.66) 25.0   (1.28) 27.7   (1.05) 24.6   (0.97) 14.3   (0.76) 6.1   (0.68) 2.3   (0.36) 1.9   (0.32) 0.3   (0.09)
Ukraine 453   (3.6) 35.9   (1.62) 15.6   (1.16) 20.3   (0.97) 26.2   (0.97) 21.5   (1.00) 11.5   (0.75) 5.0   (0.65) 4.0   (0.47) 1.0 ! (0.30)
United Arab Emirates 435   (2.1) 45.5   (0.92) 24.2   (0.87) 21.3   (0.57) 21.5   (0.52) 17.2   (0.60) 10.4   (0.49) 5.4   (0.34) 4.2   (0.33) 1.2   (0.11)

Uruguay
418   (2.6) 50.7   (1.54) 24.6   (1.07) 26.1   (1.27) 26.5   (1.02) 15.8   (0.98) 6.0   (0.61) 1.0   (0.26) 1.0   (0.24) 0.1 !! (0.05)
Vietnam9 ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†) ---   (†)
---Not available.
†Not applicable.
#Rounds to zero.
!Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
!!Interpret data with caution. Estimate could be unstable because the standard error represents more than 50 percent of the estimate.
1 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores are reported on a scale from 0 to 1,000.
2 To reach a particular proficiency level, a student must correctly answer a majority of items at that level. Students were classified into mathematics literacy levels according to their scores. Exact cut scores are as follows: below level 1 (a score less than 357.77); level 1 (a score of at least 357.77 but less than 420.07); level 2 (a score of at least 420.07 but less than 482.38); level 3 (a score of at least 482.38 but less than 544.68); level 4 (a score of at least 544.68 but less than 606.99); level 5 (a score of at least 606.99 but less than 669.30); and level 6 (a score of at least 669.30).
3 Refers to the mean of the data values for all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, to which each country contributes equally, regardless of the absolute size of the student population of each country.
4 At least 50 percent but less than 75 percent of the 15-year-old population is covered by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) sample.
5 Did not meet 85 percent threshold for school participation. However, data are considered to be largely comparable with data from other countries or education systems.
6 Did not meet 80 percent threshold for student participation. However, data are considered to be largely comparable with data from other countries or education systems.
7 Although Spain's PISA 2018 data met international technical standards, its reading literacy data show unusual student response behaviors that prevent these data from being reported at this time.
8 Less than 50 percent of the 15-year-old population is covered by the PISA sample.
9 Although Vietnam participated in PISA 2018, technical problems with its data prevent results from being included in this table.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), 2018. (This table was prepared December 2019.)

2019 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest