IQ compared by countries

The question of the intelligence of a certain nationality or population may be controversial. In fact, intelligence is influenced by national, political, and geographic factors. Often surprisingly but scientifically proven, a warmer climate badly affects the intelligence quotient.

With an average IQ of 98 points, the USA ranks 29th in this ranking. With 108 points, the inhabitants of Hong Kong reach the highest intelligence quotas worldwide. The last place, with only 56 points, is occupied by Equatorial Guinea.

In addition to the simple ranking of countries, the following table shows the influence of prosperity and climate.

Intelligence related to income and climate

The displayed IQ was averaged from the results of 9 international studies and compared the average income and government expenditures on education from 1990 to 2010.

Please beware: The average income has changed in recent years, especially in small countries. A list with more recent figures can be found here. This page covers the period from 1990 to 2010, which relates to the evaluation time of the studies.

Rank	Country	IQ	Ø Income	Education expenditure per inhabitant	Ø Daily maximum temperature
1	Hong Kong *	108	25,419 $	915 $	26.2 °C
2	Singapore	108	25,561 $	908 $	31.5 °C
3	South Korea	106	14,174 $	537 $	18.2 °C
4	Taiwan *	106			26.9 °C
5	Japan	105	37,233 $	1,258 $	19.2 °C
6	China	104	1,374 $	27 $	19.1 °C
7	Netherlands	102	33,731 $	1,701 $	14.4 °C
8	North Korea	102			15.2 °C
9	Switzerland	102	51,175 $	2,539 $	15.2 °C
10	Iceland	101	34,869 $	2,443 $	8.1 °C
11	Canada	101	27,861 $	1,661 $	7.4 °C
12	Macao *	101	20,511 $	628 $	26.0 °C
13	Finland	101	31,520 $	1,990 $	8.2 °C
14	Belgium	100	30,650 $	1,676 $	14.8 °C
15	United Kingdom	100	31,204 $	1,455 $	12.9 °C
16	Austria	100	32,042 $	1,764 $	13.1 °C
17	Germany	100	30,846 $	1,385 $	13.8 °C
18	New Zealand	100	18,672 $	1,283 $	17.4 °C
19	Australia	99	25,705 $	1,390 $	24.3 °C
20	Luxembourg	99	53,806 $	2,310 $	14.6 °C
21	Norway	99	48,278 $	3,527 $	9.0 °C
22	Sweden	99	36,645 $	2,359 $	9.9 °C
23	Denmark	99	39,017 $	3,127 $	12.5 °C
24	Czechia	99	9,333 $	387 $	12.8 °C
25	Estonia	99	9,596 $	459 $	10.1 °C
26	Mongolia	98	897 $	50 $	8.1 °C
27	France	98	29,520 $	1,609 $	16.8 °C
28	Hungary	98	7,386 $	392 $	16.6 °C
29	United States	98	36,486 $	1,904 $	18.8 °C
30	Spain	97	19,791 $	885 $	21.1 °C
31	Italy	97	25,986 $	1,175 $	17.8 °C
32	Latvia	97	6,985 $	335 $	10.9 °C
33	Poland	97	6,128 $	298 $	13.4 °C
34	Russia	96	4,104 $	157 $	9.5 °C
35	Croatia	95	8,934 $	353 $	18.0 °C
36	Portugal	95	14,222 $	725 $	21.5 °C
37	Ukraine	95	1,460 $	85 $	14.6 °C
38	Ireland	94	28,450 $	1,635 $	13.2 °C
39	Israel	94	19,448 $	1,226 $	25.4 °C
40	Vietnam	94	477 $	26 $	28.8 °C
41	Lithuania	93	6,736 $	326 $	11.6 °C
42	Malaysia	93	4,556 $	273 $	32.1 °C
43	Georgia	92	1,313 $	38 $	20.1 °C
44	Kazakhstan	92	2,767 $	97 $	13.5 °C
45	Greece	92	16,865 $	541 $	22.3 °C
46	Bulgaria	91	2,800 $	114 $	18.1 °C
47	Argentina	90	6,344 $	278 $	21.3 °C
48	Romania	90	3,373 $	120 $	16.0 °C
49	Chile	89	5,620 $	210 $	18.4 °C
50	Thailand	89	2,607 $	108 $	33.0 °C
51	Turkey	89	4,952 $	141 $	20.4 °C
52	Serbia	89	3,604 $	164 $	18.3 °C
53	Bermuda *	88	63,356 $	1,552 $	24.6 °C
54	Brunei	88	19,766 $	840 $	31.7 °C
55	Cambodia	88	428 $	7 $	33.1 °C
56	Mauritius	87	4,557 $	167 $	26.8 °C
57	Costa Rica	86	3,972 $	216 $	28.6 °C
58	Philippines	86	1,335 $	38 $	31.9 °C
59	Iraq	86	1,699 $		32.3 °C
60	Mexico	86	6,336 $	279 $	29.8 °C
61	Bolivia	85	1,021 $	67 $	27.5 °C
62	Kuwait	85	29,400 $	1,630 $	34.3 °C
63	Venezuela	85	4,812 $	241 $	32.1 °C
64	Albania	84	1,690 $	55 $	21.3 °C
65	Indonesia	84	1,082 $	29 $	31.6 °C
66	Iran	84	2,846 $	120 $	26.6 °C
67	Cuba	84	3,257 $	312 $	30.0 °C
68	Montenegro	84	4,527 $		21.1 °C
69	United Arab Emirates	83	35,275 $	378 $	34.4 °C
70	Bahrain	83	13,079 $	401 $	32.5 °C
71	Brazil	83	4,341 $	223 $	30.7 °C
72	Ecuador	83	2,342 $	68 $	25.6 °C
73	Egypt	83	1,260 $	58 $	30.0 °C
74	Lebanon	83	4,130 $	102 $	23.9 °C
75	Myanmar	83	176 $	3 $	32.2 °C
76	Puerto Rico *	83	10,995 $		30.4 °C
77	Algeria	82	2,324 $	109 $	26.5 °C
78	Colombia	82	2,792 $	128 $	30.3 °C
79	Morocco	82	1,720 $	89 $	24.0 °C
80	Oman	82	9,186 $	385 $	33.8 °C
81	Pakistan	82	591 $	16 $	30.9 °C
82	India	81	571 $	22 $	31.7 °C
83	Saudi Arabia	81	10,618 $	700 $	32.8 °C
84	Afghanistan	80	340 $	13 $	24.4 °C
85	El Salvador	79	1,912 $	69 $	31.2 °C
86	Sri Lanka	79	1,024 $	30 $	29.7 °C
87	Qatar	78	48,088 $	1,574 $	33.7 °C
88	Bahamas	77	21,995 $	521 $	29.7 °C
89	Bangladesh	77	465 $	9 $	29.9 °C
90	Maldives	77	3,501 $	166 $	31.0 °C
91	Nepal	77	276 $	10 $	24.7 °C
92	Zimbabwe	72	578 $	122 $	27.1 °C
93	Kenya	71	468 $	33 $	27.4 °C
94	Ivory Coast	71	796 $	53 $	32.2 °C
95	Somalia	71	130 $		33.2 °C
96	Tanzania	71	370 $	14 $	29.1 °C
97	South Africa	70	4,339 $	247 $	24.7 °C
98	Nigeria	70	841 $		33.3 °C
99	Sudan	70	615 $	15 $	36.5 °C
100	Ghana	69	523 $	34 $	32.1 °C
101	Cameroon	65	943 $	29 $	31.0 °C
102	Chad	65	361 $	10 $	35.4 °C
103	Congo (Dem. Republic)	63	217 $	3 $	30.3 °C
104	Niger	63	321 $	10 $	36.5 °C
105	Guinea-Bissau	62	316 $	13 $	33.4 °C
106	Ethiopia	61	190 $	8 $	27.2 °C
107	Gabon	60	4,862 $	192 $	29.8 °C
108	Gambia	60	616 $	13 $	32.9 °C
109	Timor-Leste	60	1,604 $	30 $	30.9 °C
110	Senegal	60	887 $	37 $	35.4 °C
111	Sao Tome and Principe	58	904 $	55 $	28.6 °C
112	Equatorial Guinea	56	3,369 $	158 $	30.0 °C

What is the intelligence quotient?

The definition states that the intelligence quotient is a measure of intellectual ability. Often IQ is confused with a concrete performance or even education; however, it is the "ability" to perform. In other words, the ability for comprehension, combinations, and learning.

A person isn't less intelligent because of a lower level of education. Instead, the one who can achieve the same education with less effort is classified as more intelligent. For example, some intelligence tests detail questions on the names of current politicians. This determines how well the patient can remember a name and its position only by the influence of the media presence.

The intelligence quotient was adapted to a mean value of 100 points. For a standard deviation of 15%, an IQ between 85 and 115 should be noted as normal. Depending on the psychological and physical condition of the patient, the results can also vary by up to 10 points.

Human brain)

Intelligence is not a learning ability but can be consciously increased. Through regular brain training, individual skills are specifically addressed and achieved through a performance increase. Thus, the general thinking-ability can be influenced by each individual within a certain framework. However, this possibility decreases considerably with increasing age. Additionally, part of the intelligence is inherited by the mother and father.

Criticism:
West Europeans developed IQ for West Europeans according to West European standards. It is still debatable whether this procedure can be applied to people(s) with entirely different social structures, cultures, values, and ways of thinking.

IQ in relation to income and educational expenditures

As shown in the table above, there seems to be a correlation between IQ and income level. Although high-income countries are among the top performers, much lower-income countries, such as China, Mongolia, and Eastern European, are also among the top performers.

On the other hand, countries with high education expenditures almost always have an intelligent population. The reversing circuit is not always accurate because, among the first 30 places, there are also countries with medium-to-low educational expenditures. The leading countries in this ranking are exclusively the most developed East Asian countries. In these countries, it is usual for families to invest in their children’s education. The educational expenses are no less than elsewhere but are not caused or paid for by any government.

Is intelligence dependent on the climate?

Since 1991, relentless heat has been presumed to affect IQ over generations. It was initially assumed that living in lower temperatures required higher physical fitness and caused higher social demands. Richard Lynn, a professor at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland, assumes that colder temperatures increase brain volume. But whether brain size is at all related to intelligence is controversial.

In general, a hot climate is considered a disadvantage intelligence development. Nowadays, the reason is primarily seen in the high physical energy demand and the resulting stress.

No dependence on skin color

None of the studies here conclude that a particular geographic ancestry influences the intelligence quotient. In some cases, differences within population groups were found (e.g., in Basil: Blacks 71, Mulatto 81, Whites 95, Japanese 99), but all differences could be attributed to their origin, level of education, or other factors.

In 2006, Donald Templera and Hiroko Arikawab found a connection between increasing skin pigmentation and a decreasing IQ. Even this was not attributable to skin color because pigmentation grade is climatically conditioned. The observations were also made within the same groups of other populationa, e.g., Caucasians.

Database

The intelligence quotients by countries are taken from the studies conducted by Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen (2002), Heiner Rindermann (2007), Khaleefa and Lynn (2008), Ahmad, Khanum and Riaz (2008), Lynn, Abdalla and Al-Shahomee (2008), Lynn and Meisenberg (2010), as well as the PISA tests in 2003, 2006 and 2009. More recent results were weighted higher. The studies are not entirely uncontroversial as they often consider only specific population groups or a few individuals per country. If, on the other hand, an average is obtained from all the tests and studies, a usable overview will be obtained.

The figures for average income, population, and education expenditures are based on World Bank data, averaged from 1990 bis 2010. This corresponds to the period during which the studies were carried out. Temperatures were averaged from the data of the German Weather Service of the same period.

* Dependent territories

The following countries are not sovereign states, but dependent territories or areas of other states:

Bermuda: self-governing territory of the UK
Hong Kong: special administrative region of China
Macao: special administrative region of China
Puerto Rico: unincorporated territory of the US
Taiwan: Semi-presidential republic

Further information on the definition of a country can be found in our article, What is a country?