PISA: Distribution of Reading Scores: 10th Percentile Score by country
The 10th percentile score is the score below which 10 percent of students scored. 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/
What the numbers show
PISA: Distribution of Reading Scores: 10th Percentile Score is currently reported for 56 countries. The highest value is 402.8% in Macao; the lowest is 257.5% in Tunisia.
The median across all reporting countries is 350.8%, and the mean is 340.9%.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 2.
Over the past decade 21 countries rose and 35 fell. The largest increase was in Albania (up 19.4%), and the largest decrease in South Korea (down 13.2%).
PISA: Distribution of Reading Scores: 10th Percentile Score: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macao | 402.8% | 2018 | up 3.9% | flat |
| 2 | Estonia | 401.8% | 2018 | up 2.4% | flat |
| 3 | Ireland | 398.1% | 2018 | up 6.6% | flat |
| 4 | Liechtenstein | 391.1% | 2012 | down 3.4% | rising |
| 5 | Hong Kong | 389.8% | 2018 | down 6.7% | flat |
| 6 | Canada | 387.6% | 2018 | down 4.5% | flat |
| 7 | Finland | 386.7% | 2018 | down 7.8% | falling |
| 8 | Poland | 384.2% | 2018 | up 0.5% | rising |
| 9 | Denmark | 380.4% | 2018 | down 0.6% | flat |
| 10 | Spain | 379.2% | 2015 | up 10.5% | flat |
| 11 | South Korea | 377.2% | 2018 | down 13.2% | falling |
| 12 | Japan | 374.4% | 2018 | down 2.9% | flat |
| 13 | United Kingdom | 371.9% | 2018 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 14 | Slovenia | 371.9% | 2018 | up 3.5% | flat |
| 15 | Czechia | 362.3% | 2018 | up 1.6% | flat |
| 16 | Portugal | 362.1% | 2018 | down 2.8% | rising |
| 17 | Croatia | 362.0% | 2018 | up 0.9% | flat |
| 18 | New Zealand | 361.7% | 2018 | down 5.5% | falling |
| 19 | United States | 360.6% | 2018 | down 3.1% | flat |
| 20 | Sweden | 360.0% | 2018 | down 2.3% | falling |
| 21 | Latvia | 360.0% | 2018 | down 5.0% | rising |
| 22 | Russia | 356.7% | 2018 | up 3.6% | rising |
| 23 | Australia | 356.6% | 2018 | down 7.2% | falling |
| 24 | Norway | 356.2% | 2018 | down 6.9% | flat |
| 25 | France | 355.4% | 2018 | up 1.0% | falling |
| 26 | Germany | 353.9% | 2018 | down 3.4% | rising |
| 27 | Belgium | 352.3% | 2018 | down 4.2% | flat |
| 28 | Turkey | 350.9% | 2018 | down 1.3% | rising |
| 29 | Lithuania | 350.6% | 2018 | down 0.8% | flat |
| 30 | Austria | 349.8% | 2018 | up 4.7% | flat |
| 31 | Hungary | 345.6% | 2018 | down 6.7% | flat |
| 32 | Italy | 345.1% | 2018 | down 3.5% | flat |
| 33 | Switzerland | 344.7% | 2018 | down 7.9% | flat |
| 34 | Netherlands | 343.7% | 2018 | down 11.9% | falling |
| 35 | Iceland | 331.7% | 2018 | down 10.6% | falling |
| 36 | Chile | 331.3% | 2018 | down 3.1% | rising |
| 37 | Slovakia | 326.3% | 2018 | down 9.0% | falling |
| 38 | Greece | 326.2% | 2018 | down 8.1% | flat |
| 39 | Luxembourg | 325.3% | 2018 | down 2.1% | flat |
| 40 | Mexico | 313.8% | 2018 | down 0.1% | rising |
| 41 | Serbia | 312.5% | 2018 | down 5.7% | rising |
| 42 | Montenegro | 309.9% | 2018 | up 7.5% | rising |
| 43 | Albania | 303.3% | 2018 | up 19.4% | rising |
| 44 | Jordan | 303.1% | 2018 | up 6.7% | rising |
| 45 | Colombia | 300.0% | 2018 | down 0.5% | rising |
| 46 | Uruguay | 299.2% | 2018 | up 0.8% | rising |
| 47 | Romania | 297.4% | 2018 | down 2.0% | rising |
| 48 | Israel | 295.9% | 2018 | down 8.0% | flat |
| 49 | Thailand | 295.1% | 2018 | down 10.8% | falling |
| 50 | Bulgaria | 289.7% | 2018 | up 5.1% | flat |
| 51 | Brazil | 285.9% | 2018 | down 2.3% | rising |
| 52 | Peru | 283.4% | 2018 | up 17.4% | rising |
| 53 | Indonesia | 276.6% | 2018 | down 12.2% | flat |
| 54 | Argentina | 274.1% | 2018 | up 6.8% | rising |
| 55 | Qatar | 263.6% | 2018 | up 15.6% | rising |
| 56 | Tunisia | 257.5% | 2015 | up 2.0% | rising |
About this data
The 10th percentile score is the score below which 10 percent of students scored. 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/