How do the world’s largest economies stack up when it comes to educating the next generation? According to the OECD’s PISA 2025 results, released in September 2026, educational outcomes worldwide show a stark regional divide.
Measuring the proficiency of 15-year-old students in mathematics, science, and reading across 91 participating education systems, the assessment serves as a critical barometer for future workforce readiness.
While East Asian nations continue to set the benchmark, other major powers are navigating systemic shifts and pandemic-era learning losses.
Check where major world powers—including the US, , India, the UK, and Russia—rank, based on Visual Capitalist’s top-40 rankings:
East Asia is home to the world’s highest-scoring students, with the region occupying all six of the top spots globally. China’s participating regions—specifically Beijing, , Jiangsu, and Zhejiang—lead the world in both mathematics and science.
Researchers attribute this regional success to academic discipline, rigorous curricula, strong teacher development, and cultural attitudes toward effort and achievement.
However, it is important to note that these Chinese results represent four relatively prosperous regions and do not reflect the country’s national student population as a whole.
Singapore, another Asian powerhouse, ranks first globally in reading.
The United States has been placed 16th overall with an average score of 485, according to the list.
A breakdown of the subjects shows a significant disparity: while American students scored 502 in science and 490 in reading, they struggled in mathematics with a score of just 463.
According to a Brookings analysis, American test scores have been declining since the 2010s, a trend severely accelerated by pandemic disruptions. Beyond learning loss, North American schools are facing heavy pressure from widening socioeconomic disparities, chronic absenteeism, and severe teacher shortages.
While the global rankings evaluate 91 education systems in total, specific placement data and scores for India, the United Kingdom, and are currently missing from this draft.
No African nations appeared in the top 40 due to limited PISA participation and infrastructural challenges cited by UNESCO.
