Table 3. Average mathematics scale scores of eighth-grade students, by country: 2003
Country	Average score
–  International average1	466
+ Singapore	605
+ Korea, Republic of	589
+ Hong Kong SAR2,3	586
+ Chinese Taipei	585
+ Japan	570
+ Belgium-Flemish	537
+ Netherlands2	536
+ Estonia	531
+ Hungary	529
• Malaysia	508
• Latvia	508
• Russian Federation	508
• Slovak Republic	508
• Australia	505
• (United States)	504
• Lithuania4	502
• Sweden	499
• Scotland2	498
• (Israel)	496
• New Zealand	494
– Slovenia	493
– Italy	484
– Armenia	478
– Serbia4	477
– Bulgaria	476
– Romania	475
– Norway	461
– Moldova, Republic of	460
– Cyprus	459
– (Macedonia, Republic of)	435
– Lebanon	433
– Jordan	424
– Iran, Islamic Republic of	411
– Indonesia4	411
– Tunisia	410
– Egypt	406
– Bahrain	401
– Palestinian National Authority	390
– Chile	387
– (Morocco)	387
– Philippines	378
– Botswana	366
– Saudi Arabia	332
– Ghana	276
– South Africa	264
+ Average is higher than the U.S. average
• Average is not measurably different from the U.S. average
– Average is lower than the U.S. average
1The international average reported here differs from that reported in Mullis et al. (2004) due to the deletion of England. In Mullis et al., the reported international average is 467.
2Met international guidelines for participation rates in 2003 only after replacement schools were included.
3Hong Kong is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People’s Republic of China.
4National desired population does not cover all of the international desired population.
NOTE: Countries are ordered by 2003 average score. The test for significance between the United States and the international average was adjusted to account for the U.S. contribution to the international average. The tests for significance take into account the standard error for the reported difference. Thus, a small difference between the United States and one country may be significant while a large difference between the United States and another country may not be significant. Parentheses indicate countries that did not meet international sampling or other guidelines in 2003. Countries were required to sample students in the upper of the two grades that contained the largest number of 13-year-olds. In the United States and most countries, this corresponds to grade 8. See table A1 in appendix A for details.
SOURCE: International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA), Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2003.