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

Countries reporting

Highest

43.3%

Tunisia

Lowest

6.0%

Macao

Median

16.7%

Years covered

2003–2018

Data points

296

What the numbers show

PISA: Male 15-year-olds by science proficiency level (%). Level 1A is currently reported for 52 countries. The highest value is 43.3% in Tunisia; the lowest is 6.0% in Macao.

The median across all reporting countries is 16.7%, and the mean is 19.5%.

The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 7.

Over the past decade 42 countries rose and 10 fell. The largest increase was in Finland (up 98.0%), and the largest decrease in Macao (down 32.5%).

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

#	Country	Latest	Year	10-year change	Trend
1	Tunisia	43.3%	2015	up 26.6%	rising
2	Indonesia	42.7%	2018	up 2.6%	flat
3	Mexico	33.8%	2018	up 6.7%	rising
4	Thailand	33.7%	2018	up 4.6%	flat
5	Montenegro	31.0%	2018	down 3.2%	falling
6	Colombia	30.5%	2018	down 2.2%	flat
7	Brazil	30.2%	2018	down 11.2%	flat
8	Argentina	29.7%	2018	up 12.5%	flat
9	Bulgaria	29.3%	2018	up 28.4%	rising
10	Jordan	28.1%	2018	down 5.3%	flat
11	Romania	28.0%	2018	down 9.5%	falling
12	Uruguay	27.9%	2018	up 12.8%	rising
13	Qatar	26.3%	2018	down 2.0%	flat
14	Chile	25.1%	2018	up 8.5%	flat
15	Greece	23.7%	2018	up 19.4%	rising
16	Slovakia	21.5%	2018	up 41.5%	rising
17	Turkey	21.2%	2018	down 15.7%	falling
18	Iceland	19.8%	2018	up 55.2%	rising
19	Croatia	19.8%	2018	up 23.3%	rising
20	Israel	19.8%	2018	up 4.4%	flat
21	Luxembourg	19.4%	2018	up 28.7%	rising
22	Lithuania	18.2%	2018	up 14.4%	rising
23	Hungary	17.8%	2018	up 61.0%	rising
24	Italy	17.7%	2018	up 14.7%	rising
25	Austria	17.3%	2018	up 14.8%	rising
26	Russia	16.9%	2018	up 2.0%	rising
27	Spain	16.5%	2018	up 22.1%	rising
28	Latvia	16.3%	2018	up 16.3%	rising
29	Switzerland	15.8%	2018	up 53.4%	rising
30	Netherlands	15.4%	2018	up 59.9%	rising
31	Norway	15.3%	2018	up 22.0%	flat
32	Portugal	15.2%	2018	up 3.2%	falling
33	France	15.2%	2018	up 21.4%	rising
34	Czechia	14.9%	2018	up 14.9%	rising
35	Sweden	14.5%	2018	up 8.0%	rising
36	Denmark	14.4%	2018	up 25.0%	falling
37	Germany	14.2%	2018	up 31.3%	rising
38	Ireland	14.1%	2018	up 34.3%	rising
39	Belgium	13.9%	2018	up 23.1%	rising
40	Australia	13.9%	2018	up 39.9%	rising
41	United States	13.7%	2018	up 3.8%	falling
42	Slovenia	13.6%	2018	down 1.5%	rising
43	New Zealand	13.4%	2018	up 29.8%	rising
44	United Kingdom	13.0%	2018	up 22.6%	rising
45	Finland	12.2%	2018	up 98.0%	rising
46	Poland	11.8%	2018	down 4.0%	falling
47	Canada	11.4%	2018	up 47.7%	rising
48	South Korea	10.8%	2018	up 79.1%	rising
49	Hong Kong	10.1%	2018	up 81.1%	rising
50	Japan	9.6%	2018	up 6.5%	falling
51	Estonia	8.0%	2018	up 10.8%	rising
52	Macao	6.0%	2018	down 32.5%	falling

About this data

Indicator: PISA: Male 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 male 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/