PISA: 15-year-olds by mathematics proficiency level (%). Below Level 1 by country
Percentage of 15-year-old students below the lowest proficiency level (scoring 358 or below) on the PISA mathematics scale. Students below Level 1 may be able to perform very direct and straightforward mathematical tasks, such as reading a single value from a well-labeled chart or table where the labels on the...
What the numbers show
PISA: 15-year-olds by mathematics proficiency level (%). Below Level 1 is currently reported for 51 countries. The highest value is 47.4% in Tunisia; the lowest is 1.0% in Macao.
The median across all reporting countries is 8.7%, and the mean is 13.9%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 46.
Over the past decade 27 countries rose and 24 fell. The largest increase was in South Korea (up 181.4%), and the largest decrease in Macao (down 63.0%).
PISA: 15-year-olds by mathematics proficiency level (%). Below Level 1: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tunisia | 47.4% | 2015 | down 2.1% | falling |
| 2 | Brazil | 41.0% | 2018 | up 7.6% | falling |
| 3 | Indonesia | 40.6% | 2018 | down 6.8% | falling |
| 4 | Argentina | 40.5% | 2018 | up 8.9% | falling |
| 5 | Colombia | 35.5% | 2018 | down 8.6% | falling |
| 6 | Jordan | 30.7% | 2018 | down 13.2% | falling |
| 7 | Qatar | 29.7% | 2018 | down 41.9% | falling |
| 8 | Mexico | 26.0% | 2018 | up 18.4% | falling |
| 9 | Thailand | 25.0% | 2018 | up 13.0% | flat |
| 10 | Chile | 24.7% | 2018 | up 13.9% | falling |
| 11 | Uruguay | 24.6% | 2018 | up 7.2% | flat |
| 12 | Romania | 22.6% | 2018 | up 15.7% | falling |
| 13 | Bulgaria | 21.9% | 2018 | down 10.4% | falling |
| 14 | Montenegro | 19.9% | 2018 | down 32.9% | falling |
| 15 | Serbia | 18.1% | 2018 | up 2.7% | falling |
| 16 | Israel | 17.7% | 2018 | down 13.6% | falling |
| 17 | Greece | 15.3% | 2018 | up 36.1% | flat |
| 18 | Turkey | 13.8% | 2018 | down 22.0% | falling |
| 19 | Croatia | 11.0% | 2018 | down 11.2% | rising |
| 21 | Slovakia | 10.7% | 2018 | up 53.3% | rising |
| 22 | United States | 10.2% | 2018 | up 25.4% | flat |
| 23 | Hungary | 9.6% | 2018 | up 18.4% | rising |
| 24 | Portugal | 9.3% | 2018 | up 10.8% | falling |
| 25 | Lithuania | 9.3% | 2018 | up 2.7% | rising |
| 26 | Italy | 9.1% | 2018 | up 0.0% | falling |
| 27 | Spain | 8.7% | 2018 | down 4.6% | flat |
| 28 | France | 8.0% | 2018 | down 14.9% | rising |
| 29 | Australia | 7.6% | 2018 | up 49.1% | rising |
| 30 | New Zealand | 7.6% | 2018 | up 44.0% | rising |
| 31 | Germany | 7.6% | 2018 | up 17.7% | falling |
| 32 | Iceland | 7.4% | 2018 | up 29.5% | rising |
| 33 | Austria | 7.3% | 2018 | down 6.8% | rising |
| 34 | Belgium | 6.9% | 2018 | down 11.0% | flat |
| 35 | Russia | 6.8% | 2018 | down 29.3% | falling |
| 36 | Czechia | 6.6% | 2018 | down 5.8% | rising |
| 37 | Norway | 6.5% | 2018 | up 17.7% | falling |
| 38 | United Kingdom | 6.4% | 2018 | up 2.9% | rising |
| 39 | Sweden | 6.0% | 2018 | down 20.4% | rising |
| 40 | South Korea | 5.4% | 2018 | up 181.4% | rising |
| 41 | Canada | 5.0% | 2018 | up 58.6% | rising |
| 42 | Switzerland | 4.8% | 2018 | up 6.8% | flat |
| 43 | Slovenia | 4.8% | 2018 | down 27.0% | falling |
| 44 | Netherlands | 4.5% | 2018 | up 60.8% | rising |
| 45 | Latvia | 4.4% | 2018 | down 24.5% | falling |
| 46 | Poland | 4.2% | 2018 | down 31.3% | falling |
| 47 | Finland | 3.8% | 2018 | up 125.3% | rising |
| 49 | Denmark | 3.7% | 2018 | down 24.8% | falling |
| 50 | Japan | 2.9% | 2018 | down 27.7% | falling |
| 51 | Hong Kong | 2.8% | 2018 | up 7.3% | falling |
| 52 | Estonia | 2.1% | 2018 | down 30.5% | falling |
| 53 | Macao | 1.0% | 2018 | down 63.0% | falling |
About this data
Percentage of 15-year-old students below the lowest proficiency level (scoring 358 or below) on the PISA mathematics scale. Students below Level 1 may be able to perform very direct and straightforward mathematical tasks, such as reading a single value from a well-labeled chart or table where the labels on the chart match the words in the stimulus and question, so that the selection criteria are clear and the relationship between the chart and the aspects of the context depicted are evident, and performing arithmetic calculations with whole numbers by following clear and well-defined instructions. Data reflects country performance in the stated year according to PISA reports, but may not be comparable across years or countries. Consult the PISA website for more detailed information: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/