PISA: 15-year-olds by science proficiency level (%). Level 1A by country

Countries reporting

Highest

44.2%

Tunisia

Lowest

5.1%

Macao

Median

16.3%

Years covered

2003–2018

Data points

296

What the numbers show

PISA: 15-year-olds by science proficiency level (%). Level 1A is currently reported for 50 countries. The highest value is 44.2% in Tunisia; the lowest is 5.1% in Macao.

The median across all reporting countries is 16.3%, and the mean is 19.2%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 9.

Over the past decade 41 countries rose and 9 fell. The largest increase was in South Korea (up 102.7%), and the largest decrease in Macao (down 37.0%).

PISA: 15-year-olds by science proficiency level (%). Level 1A: full country ranking

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Tunisia	44.2%	2015	up 26.0%	rising
2	Indonesia	41.4%	2018	up 0.8%	flat
3	Mexico	34.2%	2018	up 4.1%	rising
4	Colombia	33.0%	2018	down 2.1%	flat
5	Thailand	31.6%	2018	up 3.2%	flat
6	Brazil	31.4%	2018	down 8.8%	flat
7	Montenegro	31.4%	2018	up 0.2%	flat
8	Argentina	30.4%	2018	up 11.7%	rising
9	Uruguay	28.6%	2018	up 11.6%	rising
10	Bulgaria	28.3%	2018	up 27.0%	rising
11	Romania	28.0%	2018	down 5.0%	falling
12	Qatar	26.5%	2018	down 8.0%	falling
13	Jordan	26.2%	2018	down 5.2%	flat
14	Chile	25.5%	2018	up 6.8%	flat
15	Greece	22.4%	2018	up 23.7%	rising
16	Turkey	20.1%	2018	down 12.7%	falling
17	Slovakia	19.9%	2018	up 40.4%	rising
19	Israel	19.2%	2018	down 0.4%	falling
20	Croatia	19.1%	2018	up 28.5%	rising
21	Iceland	18.6%	2018	up 48.8%	rising
22	Italy	18.2%	2018	up 25.7%	rising
23	Hungary	17.8%	2018	up 72.0%	rising
24	Lithuania	17.0%	2018	up 25.6%	rising
25	Russia	16.7%	2018	up 1.2%	flat
26	Austria	16.5%	2018	up 15.3%	rising
27	Spain	16.2%	2018	up 18.9%	flat
28	Switzerland	15.2%	2018	up 44.1%	rising
29	France	14.9%	2018	up 22.4%	rising
30	Latvia	14.8%	2018	up 19.0%	flat
31	Portugal	14.7%	2018	up 9.4%	falling
32	Czechia	14.5%	2018	up 14.5%	rising
33	Netherlands	14.4%	2018	up 35.4%	rising
34	Belgium	14.2%	2018	up 21.1%	rising
35	Norway	14.1%	2018	up 18.2%	falling
36	Denmark	13.9%	2018	up 11.2%	falling
37	Sweden	13.8%	2018	up 3.5%	rising
38	Germany	13.8%	2018	up 29.0%	rising
39	Australia	13.7%	2018	up 50.1%	rising
40	United States	13.7%	2018	down 1.3%	falling
42	New Zealand	13.1%	2018	up 39.9%	rising
43	United Kingdom	12.9%	2018	up 15.5%	rising
44	Slovenia	11.9%	2018	up 1.6%	rising
45	Poland	11.1%	2018	up 2.5%	falling
46	South Korea	10.6%	2018	up 102.7%	rising
47	Canada	10.5%	2018	up 39.4%	rising
48	Finland	9.7%	2018	up 96.4%	rising
49	Hong Kong	8.9%	2018	up 71.9%	rising
50	Japan	8.9%	2018	up 18.8%	flat
51	Estonia	7.5%	2018	up 6.9%	rising
52	Macao	5.1%	2018	down 37.0%	falling

About this data

Indicator: PISA: 15-year-olds by science proficiency level (%). Level 1A
Source: OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 52 places, 296 data points, 2003–2018
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Percentage of 15-year-old students scoring higher than 335 but less than or equal to 410 on the PISA science scale. At Level 1A, students are able to use basic or everyday content and procedural knowledge to recognise or identify explanations of simple scientific phenomenon. With support, they can undertake structured scientific enquiries with no more than two variables. They are able to identify simple causal or correlational relationships and interpret graphical and visual data that require a low level of cognitive demand. Level 1a students can select the best scientific explanation for given data in familiar personal, local and global contexts. Data reflect country performance in the stated year, but may not be comparable across years or countries. Consult the PISA website for more detailed information: http://www.oecd.org/pisa/