5-year change: -1.8 pp, trend down
Republic of Korea
Math proficiency (primary): 93.4%
View MorePercentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary
By country52ranked
19952023
2023
Rankings at a glance
Highest 10 · Percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary (2023)
Among the 52 countries with 2023 data, South Korea has the highest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary, recording 93.42% in 2023, followed by Singapore (92.69%) and Hong Kong (91%). The top 5 is rounded off by Macao (90.34%) and Lithuania (86.55%). Further down, the Netherlands (83.11%) and Poland (82.96%) hold the next two spots. The United Kingdom (80.14%), Türkiye (78.64%), and Romania (78.47%) round out the top ten. Five of the top ten are in Asia, with three from Eastern Asia.
Rank changes
How percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary changed between 2015 and 2023
2015and2023
Historical trends
Key terms
- Literacy rate
- — Percentage of population who can read and write a short, simple statement about everyday life.
- Gross enrollment ratio
- — Total enrollment in a level of education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the eligible school-age population.
- Completion rate
- — Percentage of a cohort of children who complete a given level of education.
- Out-of-school rate
- — Percentage of children of official school age who are not enrolled in school.
- Pupil-teacher ratio
- — Enrolled pupils per TRAINED teacher at a given level of education. It measures how thinly trained teachers are spread, not average class size: the ratio rises when fewer teachers meet the training requirement, whatever happens to the number of pupils in a room.
- Educational attainment
- — Highest level of education completed by the population aged 25 and over.
Frequently asked questions
- Which country has the highest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary?
- South Korea has the highest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary among the 52 countries with 2023 data at 93.4% as of 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
- Which country has the lowest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary?
- Zambia has the lowest percentage of students achieving minimum proficiency in math at end of primary among the 52 countries with 2023 data at 16.0% as of 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
