PISA 2025 reports a reading mean of 535 points for Singapore, the highest published mean in the cycle, followed by B-S-J-Z (China) at 527. The OECD average is 461 points. The ranking table uses score-based positions calculated from the rounded means published by the OECD; it does not treat small score gaps as fixed statistical rank differences.
PISA 2025 Reading Scores and Score-Based Positions
Countries and economies are ordered by their published 2025 mean reading score. Equal rounded means share the same score-based position. The OECD average of 461 is a benchmark, not a participant row.
| Score-based position | Country or economy | 2025 reading score | Gap from OECD average | Change from 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Singapore | 535 | +74 | -8 |
| 2 | B-S-J-Z (China) | 527 | +66 | — |
| 3 | Chinese Taipei | 508 | +47 | -7 |
| 4 | Japan | 503 | +42 | -13 |
| 5 | Korea | 501 | +40 | -15 |
| 5 | Macao (China) | 501 | +40 | -9 |
| 7 | Ireland | 500 | +39 | -16 |
| 8 | Estonia | 499 | +38 | -12 |
| 9 | New Zealand* | 497 | +36 | -4 |
| 10 | United Kingdom | 494 | +33 | 0 |
| 11 | Australia | 491 | +30 | -7 |
| 12 | Canada* | 490 | +29 | -17 |
| 12 | United States* | 490 | +29 | -14 |
| 14 | Poland | 482 | +21 | -7 |
| 15 | Hong Kong (China) | 480 | +19 | -20 |
| 16 | Finland | 474 | +13 | -16 |
| 16 | Italy | 474 | +13 | -7 |
| 18 | Türkiye | 472 | +11 | +16 |
| 19 | Switzerland | 470 | +9 | -13 |
| 20 | Czechia | 468 | +7 | -20 |
| 21 | Austria | 467 | +6 | -13 |
| 22 | Belgium | 466 | +5 | -13 |
| 22 | Sweden | 466 | +5 | -21 |
| 24 | Germany | 465 | +4 | -15 |
| 25 | Lithuania | 464 | +3 | -8 |
| 26 | Portugal | 462 | +1 | -15 |
| 27 | Denmark | 460 | -1 | -29 |
| 28 | France | 456 | -5 | -18 |
| 29 | Croatia | 453 | -8 | -22 |
| 29 | Norway* | 453 | -8 | -24 |
| 31 | Hungary | 452 | -9 | -21 |
| 32 | Spain | 451 | -10 | -23 |
| 33 | Slovak Republic | 448 | -13 | +1 |
| 34 | Slovenia | 445 | -16 | -24 |
| 35 | Luxembourg | 443 | -18 | — |
| 36 | Netherlands* | 441 | -20 | -18 |
| 37 | Chile | 436 | -25 | -12 |
| 37 | Israel | 436 | -25 | -38 |
| 39 | United Arab Emirates | 433 | -28 | +15 |
| 40 | Latvia | 430 | -31 | -45 |
| 41 | Brunei Darussalam | 426 | -35 | -4 |
| 42 | Greece | 423 | -38 | -16 |
| 42 | Uruguay | 423 | -38 | -7 |
| 44 | Iceland | 422 | -39 | -14 |
| 45 | Montenegro | 418 | -43 | +13 |
| 45 | Qatar | 418 | -43 | -1 |
| 45 | Ukrainian regions (17 of 27) | 418 | -43 | -8 |
| 48 | Costa Rica | 416 | -45 | +1 |
| 49 | Malta | 415 | -46 | -31 |
| 49 | Serbia | 415 | -46 | -26 |
| 51 | Romania | 413 | -48 | -16 |
| 52 | Albania* | 408 | -53 | — |
| 52 | Brazil | 408 | -53 | -2 |
| 52 | Mexico | 408 | -53 | -7 |
| 55 | Mauritius | 405 | -56 | — |
| 56 | Moldova | 404 | -57 | -7 |
| 57 | Colombia | 399 | -62 | -9 |
| 58 | Malaysia | 393 | -68 | +5 |
| 59 | Thailand | 392 | -69 | +13 |
| 59 | Viet Nam | 392 | -69 | — |
| 61 | Peru | 390 | -71 | -18 |
| 62 | Argentina | 389 | -72 | -12 |
| 63 | Bulgaria | 387 | -74 | -18 |
| 63 | Saudi Arabia | 387 | -74 | +5 |
| 65 | Ecuador | 385 | -76 | — |
| 65 | Kazakhstan | 385 | -76 | -1 |
| 67 | Georgia | 384 | -77 | +10 |
| 68 | Cyprus | 379 | -82 | -2 |
| 69 | Azerbaijan | 374 | -87 | — |
| 69 | Mongolia | 374 | -87 | -4 |
| 71 | Dushanbe (Tajikistan) | 368 | -93 | — |
| 72 | Philippines | 367 | -94 | +20 |
| 73 | El Salvador | 366 | -95 | +2 |
| 74 | Indonesia | 365 | -96 | +7 |
| 75 | Jordan | 363 | -98 | +20 |
| 76 | North Macedonia | 357 | -104 | -1 |
| 77 | Paraguay | 352 | -109 | -21 |
| 78 | Palestinian Authority | 350 | -111 | -6 |
| 79 | Armenia | 348 | -113 | — |
| 80 | Cambodia | 347 | -114 | +18 |
| 81 | Dominican Republic | 346 | -115 | -6 |
| 82 | Kyrgyzstan | 344 | -117 | — |
| 83 | Kosovo | 340 | -121 | -2 |
| 84 | Guatemala | 337 | -124 | -37 |
| 85 | Lebanon | 331 | -130 | — |
| 86 | Zambia | 325 | -136 | — |
| 87 | Morocco | 321 | -140 | -18 |
| 88 | Kenya | 320 | -141 | — |
| 89 | Kurdistan Region (Iraq) | 312 | -149 | — |
| 90 | Rwanda | 301 | -160 | — |
| — | Uzbekistan | — | — | — |
The gap column is an arithmetic difference from the OECD average of 461 points. It does not by itself show whether two estimates are statistically distinguishable. The 2022–2025 column reproduces the published score difference where the OECD summary table reports one; an em dash marks a missing or unavailable comparison, not zero change.
An asterisk marks Albania, Canada, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and the United States because the OECD reports that one or more PISA sampling standards were not met. Their estimates should be interpreted with caution. B-S-J-Z (China) refers to Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Labels such as Ukrainian regions (17 of 27) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan) are retained as OECD reporting geographies.
- The reported reading means span 234 points, from Singapore at 535 to Rwanda at 301.
- 26 reported means are arithmetically above the OECD average and 64 are below it. That count should not be read as a count of systems statistically above or below the OECD average.
- The first six score-based positions are occupied by Singapore, B-S-J-Z (China), Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea and Macao (China); Korea and Macao share 501 points after rounding.
Reading Score Changes from 2022 to 2025
Among the 75 country/economy entries with a published 2022–2025 reading comparison in the OECD summary table, 60 show a lower mean, 14 a higher mean and one is unchanged.
Largest Published Increases and Declines in Reading
Five largest increases and five largest declines among entries with a reported 2022–2025 score difference.
These are descriptive score-point changes. The size of a change alone does not establish that the movement is statistically distinguishable from zero, and entries without a comparable published change are excluded from this chart.
The short-term movements sit inside a broader decline in OECD reading performance. The OECD average fell from 489 points in 2015 to 461 in 2025, a 28-point decrease. The executive summary also reports a −14-point 2022–2025 change for the OECD comparison set; that short-term figure uses the OECD’s stated comparable-country basis rather than a simple subtraction across differently composed averages.
How to Interpret the Reading Ranking
Data Sources and Measurement
The principal data come from OECD PISA 2025 Results, Volume I, published in September 2026. PISA 2025 involved 91 participating countries and economies and more than 760,000 students.
Country/economy reading means are reported in Annex B1, Table I.B1.2a.2. The same annex identifies Table I.B1.2a.37 for mean reading performance from 2000 through 2025.
The OECD’s student performance chapter reports Singapore at 535, B-S-J-Z (China) at 527 and the OECD reading average at 461, and discusses 2022–2025 and longer-run changes.
The OECD technical notes explain rank ranges and uncertainty in mean estimates. The OECD PISA Student Scores dashboard identifies the systems carrying sampling-standard cautions.
Scores are rounded to whole points in the published summary presentation used for the ordering. Derived gaps, counts and score-based positions on this page are calculated from those OECD-published rounded values and are not separate OECD indicators.