The United States ranked 27th globally in mathematics in the latest international study. American students scored an average of 463 points. This score exactly matches the average for all OECD countries. [1]Visual Capitalist. (2026). Ranked: The World’s Best Countries at Math in 2026. Visual Capitalist. Retrieved from https://www.visualcapitalist.com/worlds-best-countries-at-math-in-2026/ [2] OECD countries are those that promote economic growth, democracy, and world trade.
The results come from the PISA 2025 study, which was published in September 2026. The test checks if students can apply math to solve real-world problems. More than 760,000 15-year-old students took the test. They represented roughly 33 million students across 91 different countries and economies.
East Asian Schools Take Top Spots
East Asian education systems ranked highest in the rankings. China finished in first place, scoring 49 points higher than Singapore. Macao and Taiwan ranked third and fourth. Japan ranked fifth with 525 points.
Estonia ranked highest among European nations. It broke up the concentration of East Asian systems by taking eighth place globally with 508 points.
“Across all OECD countries, average mathematics scores fell by 22 points between 2015 and 2025.”
Canada ranked 11th overall with a score of 485. This put Canada 22 points above the OECD average. The United Kingdom placed 10th with 488 points, while Australia came in 17th with 478 points.
Global Math Scores Drop
Overall math scores are dropping worldwide. Across all OECD countries, average mathematics scores fell by 22 points between 2015 and 2025. This drop is equal to losing just over one year of learning.
The study also found a link between screen time and lower test results. Students who spent more than four hours a day on digital leisure activities outside of school had lower math scores. Moderate digital use was linked to better outcomes than either no use or very high use.
There was no reference to school closures during the pandemic affecting scores.
