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

Countries reporting

Highest

8.5%

Qatar

Lowest

0.1%

Macao

Median

0.7%

Years covered

2006–2018

Data points

250

What the numbers show

PISA: Male 15-year-olds by science proficiency level (%). Below Level 1B is currently reported for 50 countries. The highest value is 8.5% in Qatar; the lowest is 0.1% in Macao.

The median across all reporting countries is 0.7%, and the mean is 1.3%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 74.

Over the past decade 8 countries rose and 27 fell. The largest increase was in Romania (up 53.3%), and the largest decrease in Japan (down 84.3%).

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

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Qatar	8.5%	2018	down 39.4%	falling
2	Jordan	5.0%	2018	down 28.1%	falling
3	Israel	4.9%	2018	up 22.6%	flat
4	Brazil	4.5%	2018	up 50.4%	rising
5	Bulgaria	3.7%	2018	down 38.3%	falling
6	Romania	3.1%	2018	up 53.3%	rising
7	Montenegro	2.6%	2018	down 57.3%	falling
8	Uruguay	2.1%	2018	down 57.6%	falling
9	Colombia	2.0%	2018	down 32.7%	volatile
10	Indonesia	2.0%	2018	down 50.8%	falling
11	Thailand	1.9%	2018	down 3.7%	falling
12	Norway	1.5%	2018	up 48.0%	falling
13	Greece	1.4%	2018	up 42.8%	falling
14	Slovakia	1.3%	2018	up 29.1%	rising
15	Italy	1.2%	2018	up 21.8%	falling
16	Chile	1.0%	2018	up 0.1%	falling
17	Netherlands	1.0%	2018	—	volatile
18	Luxembourg	0.9%	2018	down 68.5%	volatile
19	Denmark	0.9%	2018	down 11.2%	volatile
20	Germany	0.8%	2018	down 18.3%	volatile
21	Sweden	0.8%	2018	down 19.5%	falling
22	Croatia	0.8%	2018	down 20.4%	volatile
23	New Zealand	0.8%	2018	down 62.3%	volatile
24	United States	0.7%	2018	—	volatile
25	Australia	0.7%	2018	down 32.5%	falling
26	Mexico	0.7%	2018	down 66.5%	falling
27	France	0.7%	2018	down 67.1%	falling
28	Lithuania	0.7%	2018	—	volatile
29	United Kingdom	0.6%	2018	down 39.3%	falling
30	Austria	0.6%	2018	down 40.1%	volatile
31	Spain	0.6%	2018	down 41.4%	falling
32	Iceland	0.6%	2018	down 41.5%	falling
33	Belgium	0.6%	2018	down 71.2%	volatile
34	Finland	0.6%	2018	—	volatile
35	Hungary	0.5%	2018	—	volatile
36	Turkey	0.5%	2018	down 47.2%	volatile
37	South Korea	0.5%	2018	—	volatile
38	Switzerland	0.5%	2018	—	volatile
39	Canada	0.4%	2018	—	volatile
40	Russia	0.4%	2018	down 57.4%	volatile
41	Portugal	0.4%	2018	—	volatile
42	Latvia	0.4%	2018	—	volatile
43	Ireland	0.4%	2018	down 64.4%	volatile
44	Czechia	0.3%	2018	down 68.1%	volatile
45	Hong Kong	0.2%	2018	—	volatile
46	Poland	0.2%	2018	—	volatile
47	Slovenia	0.2%	2018	—	volatile
48	Estonia	0.2%	2018	—	volatile
49	Japan	0.2%	2018	down 84.3%	volatile
50	Macao	0.1%	2018	—	volatile

About this data

Indicator: PISA: Male 15-year-olds by science proficiency level (%). Below Level 1B
Source: OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA)
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data)
Coverage: 50 places, 250 data points, 2006–2018
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Percentage of 15-year-old male students scoring below the lowest proficiency level (less than or equal to 261) on the PISA science scale. No item in the PISA assessment can indicate what students who perform below Level 1b can do. Students below Level 1b may have acquired some elements of science knowledge and skills, but based on the tasks included in the PISA test, their ability can only be described in terms of what they cannot do – and they are unlikely to be able to solve, other than by guessing, any of the PISA tasks. 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/