Statizoid

Share of students achieving minimum math proficiency by the end of lower-secondary education by country

Proportion of children and young people achieving a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics (%).

Countries reporting
63
Highest
91.7%
Japan
Lowest
16.0%
Palestine
Median
67.1%
Years covered
24
2000–2023
Data points
434

What the numbers show

Share of students achieving minimum math proficiency by the end of lower-secondary education is currently reported for 63 countries. The highest value is 91.7% in Japan; the lowest is 16.0% in Palestine.

The median across all reporting countries is 67.1%, and the mean is 59.0%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 6.

Over the past decade 11 countries rose and 52 fell. The largest increase was in Oman (up 49.0%), and the largest decrease in Jordan (down 45.5%).

Share of students achieving minimum math proficiency by the end of lower-secondary education: full country ranking

#Country LatestYear 10-year changeTrend
1 Japan 91.7% 2023 up 5.7% rising
2 Macao 91.6% 2022 up 2.6% rising
3 Singapore 89.3% 2023 down 3.4% flat
4 Hong Kong 86.2% 2022 down 5.8% flat
5 Liechtenstein 85.9% 2012 down 2.1% flat
6 Estonia 85.0% 2022 down 5.0% flat
7 South Korea 83.8% 2022 down 7.8% falling
8 Ireland 81.0% 2022 down 2.6% flat
9 Switzerland 80.5% 2022 down 8.0% falling
10 Denmark 79.5% 2022 down 4.3% flat
11 Canada 78.4% 2022 down 9.1% falling
12 Russia 78.4% 2018 up 9.7% rising
13 Latvia 77.8% 2022 down 2.8% rising
14 Poland 77.0% 2022 down 10.1% rising
15 United Kingdom 75.7% 2022 down 3.2% falling
16 Slovenia 75.4% 2022 down 5.6% flat
17 Finland 75.2% 2022 down 14.3% falling
18 Austria 75.1% 2022 down 7.6% falling
19 Belgium 75.0% 2022 down 7.4% falling
20 Czechia 74.5% 2022 down 5.8% flat
21 Australia 73.7% 2022 down 8.3% falling
22 Luxembourg 72.8% 2018 down 4.3% rising
22 Sweden 72.8% 2022 down 0.2% falling
24 Spain 72.7% 2022 down 4.8% flat
25 Netherlands 72.7% 2022 down 14.7% falling
26 Lithuania 72.2% 2022 down 2.5% flat
27 New Zealand 71.2% 2022 down 7.9% falling
28 France 71.2% 2022 down 8.3% falling
29 Germany 70.5% 2022 down 14.3% flat
30 Portugal 70.3% 2022 down 6.4% rising
31 Norway 68.5% 2022 down 11.8% falling
32 Croatia 67.1% 2022 down 4.4% flat
33 Slovakia 66.8% 2022 down 7.9% falling
34 United States 66.1% 2022 down 10.9% falling
35 Iceland 65.9% 2022 down 16.1% falling
36 Hungary 64.6% 2023 down 1.3% falling
37 Israel 62.8% 2022 down 5.6% rising
38 Italy 61.4% 2023 down 3.8% rising
39 Turkey 59.5% 2023 up 47.3% rising
40 Serbia 56.9% 2022 down 6.8% flat
41 United Arab Emirates 55.0% 2023 up 29.5% rising
42 Greece 52.8% 2022 down 17.9% falling
43 Romania 51.4% 2022 down 13.1% rising
44 Bulgaria 46.4% 2022 down 17.5% flat
45 Uruguay 43.5% 2022 down 1.7% falling
46 Montenegro 40.5% 2022 down 6.6% rising
47 Qatar 40.4% 2023 up 38.7% rising
48 Mexico 34.2% 2022 down 24.5% rising
49 Thailand 31.7% 2022 down 36.9% falling
50 Bahrain 30.4% 2023 up 16.1% rising
51 Colombia 28.8% 2022 up 10.0% rising
52 Iran 28.6% 2023 up 11.8% rising
53 Costa Rica 28.2% 2022 down 29.8% falling
54 Argentina 27.1% 2022 down 19.2% falling
55 Lebanon 26.8% 2019 down 26.6% flat
56 Brazil 26.6% 2022 down 19.1% rising
57 Albania 26.1% 2022 down 33.8% rising
58 Tunisia 25.2% 2015 down 8.5% rising
59 Oman 24.4% 2023 up 49.0% rising
60 Chile 23.8% 2023 up 3.6% rising
61 Indonesia 18.3% 2022 down 24.6% falling
62 Jordan 17.1% 2022 down 45.5% falling
63 Palestine 16.0% 2023 down 36.7% flat

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Share of students achieving minimum math proficiency by the end of lower-secondary education by country. Statizoid, drawing on UNESCO Institute for Statistics – processed by Our World in Data. Retrieved 29 August 2026, from https://education.statizoid.com/stat/share-of-students-at-end-of-lower-secondary-education-achieving-minimum-math-proficiency/

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About this data

Indicator
Share of students achieving minimum math proficiency by the end of lower-secondary education
Unit
%
Source
UNESCO Institute for Statistics – processed by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
63 places, 434 data points, 2000–2023
Last refreshed

Proportion of children and young people achieving a minimum proficiency level in reading and mathematics (%).