Average IQ by country.

asuraykk · 03-03-2008, 03:21 PM

Rank Country IQ estimate Rank Country IQ estimate Rank Country IQ estimate
1 Hong Kong 107 28 Russia 96 55 Fiji 84
2 South Korea 106 29 Slovakia 96 56 Iran 84
3 Japan 105 30 Uruguay 96 57 Marshall Islands 84
4 Taiwan 104 31 Portugal 95 58 Puerto Rico 84
5 Singapore 103 32 Slovenia 95 59 Egypt 83
6 Austria 102 33 Israel 94 60 India 81
7 Germany 102 34 Romania 94 61 Ecuador 80
8 Italy 102 35 Bulgaria 93 62 Guatemala 79
9 Netherlands 102 36 Ireland 93 63 Barbados 78
10 Sweden 101 37 Greece 92 64 Nepal 78
11 Switzerland 101 38 Malaysia 92 65 Qatar 78
12 Belgium 100 39 Thailand 91 66 Zambia 77
13 China (PRC) 100 40 Croatia 90 67 Republic of the Congo 73
14 New Zealand 100 41 Peru 90 68 Uganda 73
15 United Kingdom 100 42 Turkey 90 69 Jamaica 72
16 Hungary 99 43 Indonesia 89 70 Kenya 72
17 Poland 99 44 Suriname 89 71 South Africa 72
18 Spain 99 45 Colombia 89 72 Sudan 72
19 Australia 98 46 Brazil 87 73 Tanzania 72
20 Denmark 98 47 Iraq 87 74 Ghana 71
21 France 98 48 Mexico 87 75 Nigeria 67
22 Norway 98 49 Samoa 87 76 Guinea 66
23 United States 98 50 Tonga 87 77 Zimbabwe 66
24 Canada 97 51 Lebanon 86 78 Congo 65
25 Czech Republic 97 52 Philippines 86 79 Sierra Leone 64
26 Finland 97 53 Cuba 85 80 Ethiopia 63
27 Argentina 96 54 Morocco 85 81 Equatorial Guinea 59

liangshengtm · 03-03-2008, 05:54 PM

iq is nothing, people boost theirs up by training for like 30 points

Kowloon · 03-03-2008, 05:58 PM

I'll bet you got that from wikipedia. IQ means nothing at national level, since the US, which is ranked 23rd, is the world's only super power. Clearly, either IQ matters little, or the UQ tests are biased for some skills, such as mathematical skills, which most underdeveloped nations (such as African nations) do not care much about.

gouchicago · 03-04-2008, 12:20 AM

What's this thread got to do with college admissions?

tetrisfan · 03-04-2008, 05:32 AM

Zilch. Nada. Absolutely nothing.

serf- · 03-04-2008, 09:26 AM

>>I'll bet you got that from wikipedia. IQ means nothing at national level, since the US, which is ranked 23rd, is the world's only super power.

your powers of extrapolation are weak.

having said that, there's something fishy about the list. isn't the mean supposed to be constantly recalibrated to 100? the countries 1-11 (i.e. above 100) form a rather small proportion of world population.

NBZ · 03-04-2008, 10:36 AM

In fact the list is from wikipedia, here's the link: IQ and the Wealth of Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. From a cursory glacne through the article, it's clear that the list is by no means an authoritative one. So I wouldn't advise anyone to take it particularly seriously.

aisgzdavinci · 03-05-2008, 04:47 AM

Jeez, whoever wrote Hong Kong is a country is a big moron.

polydentate · 03-05-2008, 06:51 AM

Haha

(10 char)

oxbow · 03-08-2008, 03:12 AM

asuraykk, please get real. IQ by country, the ridiculousness of it all!

b@r!um · 03-08-2008, 05:23 AM

Their method for arriving at country's IQ estimates is questionable at best:

Quote:

For People's Republic of China, the authors used a figure of 109.4 for Shanghai and adjusted it down by an arbitrary 6 points because they believed the average across China's rural areas was probably less than that in Shanghai. Another figure from a study done in Beijing was not adjusted downwards. Those two studies formed the resultant score for China (PRC).

Quote:

In some cases, the IQ of a country is estimated by averaging the IQs of countries that are not actually neighbors of the country in question. For example, Kyrgyzstan's IQ is estimated by averaging the IQs of Iran and Turkey, neither of which is close to Kyrgyzstan – China, which is a geographic neighbor, is not counted as such by Lynn and Vanhanen.

IQ and the Wealth of Nations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eusian · 03-04-2010, 08:30 AM

If you think that the US is the only world's hope or the worlds only super power, you are gonnna get bashed up by random dudes from other countries. Please, dont invade on this site.

Sam Lee · 03-04-2010, 08:56 AM

Quote:

IQ means nothing at national level, since the US, which is ranked 23rd, is the world's only super power.

Well, US has been "importing" a lot of talents. Even many Nobel winners are foreign-born. Not to mention this is about "average". Certainly we have many of the brightest in the world but if you are talking about average, I think you are wrong to think US should be anywhere near the top. I came from Hong Kong and definitely think the average is higher there. Over there, everything seems so well-run and people are fast and efficient even at the low-level jobs like cashier at supermarkets.

b@r!um · 03-04-2010, 08:15 PM

Quote:

having said that, there's something fishy about the list. isn't the mean supposed to be constantly recalibrated to 100? the countries 1-11 (i.e. above 100) form a rather small proportion of world population.

You are right that IQ scores are calibrated to have a mean of 100. However, the calibration is probably based on a restricted population sample (most likely from an industrialized nation) rather than a global average. Adult IQ scores correlate too much with formal education to be a good measure in third-world countries.

That being said, I think the statistics sound really fishy. I cannot imagine how one would get representative samples of any individual country at all, let alone for so many countries.

tagbanda · 03-04-2010, 09:17 PM

Further to what everyone has said, I see that UK conveniently has the average IQ as 100. I am now assuming that the test was devised and calibrated in the UK. Clearly that makes the test useless outside the UK because you cannot compare IQs between countries.

Put people of different origins through the same education and same environment and then take an IQ test. I know the IQ test may not test factual knowledge taught at school, but living in different environments makes people think and learn differently.

If someone from Hong Kong was stuck in a forest with a war going on, that person is more likely to do something silly than someone from Congo. Not everyone from Congo might have been in the forest during their lives, but there's a lot that you learn from your environment. Such a test would put that list upside down, and to someone trying save their lives in a war, that would be a much better test of their mental ability than the "IQ" test devised for people of the richer world.

I don't know what the IQ test had in it, but I'm sure putting someone through a British education would improve their score considerably.

EDIT: Here's the list sorted properly:

Quote:

1 Hong Kong 107
2 South Korea 106
3 Japan 105
4 Taiwan 104
5 Singapore 103
6 Austria 102
7 Germany 102
8 Italy 102
9 Netherlands 102
10 Sweden 101
11 Switzerland 101
12 Belgium 100
13 China (PRC) 100
14 New Zealand 100
15 United Kingdom 100
16 Hungary 99
17 Poland 99
18 Spain 99
19 Australia 98
20 Denmark 98
21 France 98
22 Norway 98
23 United States 98
24 Canada 97
25 Czech Republic 97
26 Finland 97
27 Argentina 96
28 Russia 96
29 Slovakia 96
30 Uruguay 96
31 Portugal 95
32 Slovenia 95
33 Israel 94
34 Romania 94
35 Bulgaria 93
36 Ireland 93
37 Greece 92
38 Malaysia 92
39 Thailand 91
40 Croatia 90
41 Peru 90
42 Turkey 90
43 Indonesia 89
44 Suriname 89
45 Colombia 89
46 Brazil 87
47 Iraq 87
48 Mexico 87
49 Samoa 87
50 Tonga 87
51 Lebanon 86
52 Philippines 86
53 Cuba 85
54 Morocco 85
55 Fiji 84
56 Iran 84
57 Marshall Islands 84
58 Puerto Rico 84
59 Egypt 83
60 India 81
61 Ecuador 80
62 Guatemala 79
63 Barbados 78
64 Nepal 78
65 Qatar 78
66 Zambia 77
67 Republic of the Congo 73
68 Uganda 73
69 Jamaica 72
70 Kenya 72
71 South Africa 72
72 Sudan 72
73 Tanzania 72
74 Ghana 71
75 Nigeria 67
76 Guinea 66
77 Zimbabwe 66
78 Congo 65
79 Sierra Leone 64
80 Ethiopia 63
81 Equatorial Guinea 59