PISA: 15-year-olds by mathematics proficiency level (%). Level 2 by country

Countries reporting

Highest

27.4%

Croatia

Lowest

12.3%

Macao

Median

22.0%

Years covered

2003–2018

Data points

303

What the numbers show

PISA: 15-year-olds by mathematics proficiency level (%). Level 2 is currently reported for 51 countries. The highest value is 27.4% in Croatia; the lowest is 12.3% in Macao.

The median across all reporting countries is 22.0%, and the mean is 22.0%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.

Over the past decade 25 countries rose and 26 fell. The largest increase was in Qatar (up 67.6%), and the largest decrease in Macao (down 37.3%).

PISA: 15-year-olds by mathematics proficiency level (%). Level 2: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Croatia	27.4%	2018	up 2.4%	falling
2	Turkey	27.3%	2018	up 8.3%	rising
3	Montenegro	27.3%	2018	up 10.8%	rising
4	Greece	26.8%	2018	up 1.7%	flat
5	Uruguay	26.5%	2018	up 5.2%	rising
6	Mexico	26.4%	2018	down 6.6%	rising
7	Latvia	25.8%	2018	down 5.1%	flat
8	Chile	25.5%	2018	down 6.4%	flat
9	Russia	25.0%	2018	down 12.3%	falling
11	Thailand	24.6%	2018	down 9.7%	flat
12	Romania	24.5%	2018	down 14.2%	falling
13	Spain	24.4%	2018	up 2.1%	flat
14	United States	24.2%	2018	down 0.8%	flat
15	Lithuania	24.2%	2018	down 7.2%	flat
16	Serbia	24.1%	2018	down 9.0%	falling
17	Jordan	24.0%	2018	up 5.1%	flat
18	Bulgaria	23.7%	2018	up 1.3%	rising
19	Hungary	23.6%	2018	up 1.7%	flat
20	Australia	23.4%	2018	up 15.4%	rising
21	Italy	22.9%	2018	down 5.2%	falling
22	New Zealand	22.8%	2018	up 19.4%	rising
23	Finland	22.3%	2018	up 43.3%	rising
24	Czechia	22.1%	2018	down 8.7%	rising
25	United Kingdom	22.0%	2018	down 11.5%	flat
26	Iceland	22.0%	2018	up 3.5%	rising
27	Denmark	22.0%	2018	down 4.6%	rising
28	Qatar	21.9%	2018	up 67.6%	rising
29	Sweden	21.9%	2018	down 6.4%	flat
30	Norway	21.8%	2018	down 10.4%	falling
32	Slovenia	21.6%	2018	down 3.9%	falling
33	Slovakia	21.4%	2018	down 7.8%	falling
34	France	21.1%	2018	up 6.3%	flat
35	Colombia	21.1%	2018	up 3.8%	rising
36	Portugal	20.9%	2018	down 12.7%	falling
37	Austria	20.8%	2018	down 1.8%	flat
38	Canada	20.8%	2018	up 10.9%	rising
39	Estonia	20.8%	2018	down 8.5%	falling
40	Germany	20.7%	2018	up 10.6%	rising
41	Israel	20.7%	2018	down 8.2%	falling
42	Poland	20.7%	2018	down 13.9%	falling
43	Argentina	19.6%	2018	down 5.6%	rising
44	Switzerland	19.5%	2018	up 22.7%	rising
45	Netherlands	19.0%	2018	up 0.4%	rising
46	Japan	18.7%	2018	up 7.5%	rising
47	Belgium	18.6%	2018	up 6.5%	rising
48	Indonesia	18.6%	2018	up 9.9%	rising
49	Brazil	18.2%	2018	down 3.8%	rising
50	South Korea	17.3%	2018	up 10.9%	rising
51	Tunisia	16.4%	2015	down 0.7%	rising
52	Hong Kong	13.5%	2018	up 2.0%	falling
53	Macao	12.3%	2018	down 37.3%	falling

About this data

Indicator: PISA: 15-year-olds by mathematics proficiency level (%). Level 2
Source: OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 53 places, 303 data points, 2003–2018
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Percentage of 15-year-old students scoring higher than 420 but lower than or equal to 482 points on the PISA mathematics scale. At Level 2, students can interpret and recognize situations in contexts that require no more than direct inference. They can extract relevant information from a single source and make use of a single representational mode. Students at this level can employ basic algorithms, formulae, procedures, or conventions to solve problems involving whole numbers. They are capable of making literal interpretations of the results. 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/