Education and science rankings: the complete guide to 15 live Top 10s

There are 15 live rankings in education and science on Top10Earth. This guide explains what each one measures, who leads it today and how often it changes. Schools, universities, literacy, research and patents, ranked by the numbers. The newest snapshot in the category was captured on 2026-11-02. China tops more of these rankings than anyone else (2 lists), followed by Israel (1), Tokelau (1), Kiribati (1) and Moldova (1).

The rankings at a glance

• 15 rankings currently published in education and science.
• Refresh cadence: 15 weekly.
• Sources: Our World in Data (12 rankings) and World Bank Open Data (3 rankings).
• Snapshots kept: 15 across the category, every one of them still browsable.

Who is number one in education and science

The current leader of every ranking, with the value that put them there and the capture date:

• Countries spending the most on research as a share of GDP: Israel, 6.35 % of GDP (Research and development spending), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the highest adult literacy rates: Tokelau, 100 % (Adult literacy rate), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the highest government spending on education as a share of GDP: Kiribati, 16.39 % of GDP (Government expenditure on education), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the highest pre-primary school enrolment: Moldova, 99.85 % (Pre-primary net enrolment rate), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the highest primary school completion rates: Germany, 100 % (Primary school completion rate), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the highest share of students from abroad: San Marino, 87.12 % (Inbound student mobility rate), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the longest compulsory education: Venezuela, 17 years (Duration of compulsory education), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the longest pre-primary education: Bulgaria, 4 years (Duration of pre-primary education), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the most patent applications by residents: China, 1,672 thousand (Patent applications by residents), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the most researchers per million people: Liechtenstein, 18.1k per million people (Researchers in R&D), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the most scientific journal articles: China, 932.71 thousand (Scientific and technical journal articles), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum maths level (lower sec.): Japan, 91.73 % (Minimum maths proficiency (lower secondary)), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum maths level (primary): South Korea, 93.42 % (Minimum maths proficiency (primary)), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum reading level (lower sec.): Singapore, 88.83 % (Minimum reading proficiency (lower secondary)), 2026-11-02.
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum reading level (primary): Canada, 98.78 % (Minimum reading proficiency (primary)), 2026-11-02.

Rankings to start with

These have the longest snapshot history, so their rank-history charts show the most movement:

• Countries spending the most on research as a share of GDP (1 snapshot, weekly): #1 Israel, #2 Liechtenstein and #3 South Korea.
• Countries with the highest adult literacy rates (1 snapshot, weekly): #1 Tokelau, #2 Tuvalu and #3 Uzbekistan.
• Countries with the highest government spending on education as a share of GDP (1 snapshot, weekly): #1 Kiribati, #2 American Samoa and #3 Tuvalu.
• Countries with the highest pre-primary school enrolment (1 snapshot, weekly): #1 Moldova, #2 Grenada and #3 Saint Kitts and Nevis.
• Countries with the highest primary school completion rates (1 snapshot, weekly): #1 Germany, #2 Israel and #3 Japan.

What moved recently

No rank changes were recorded in education and science in the last 30 days. Many of these sources publish annually, so the tables can be stable for months and then move together when a new year of data lands.

Where the data comes from

• Our World in Data, used by 12 rankings. Data from Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0) and the sources it cites.
• World Bank Open Data, used by 3 rankings. Source: World Bank Open Data (CC BY 4.0).

Every ranking page states its metric definition, the source's own caveats and the capture date, and links to the original dataset. Top10Earth never estimates or edits a value. Each number is fetched from its source on a schedule, hashed, stored and ranked by software, then checked by a quality gate before it is published. If a refresh fails that gate the previous snapshot stays live and a person looks at why. Every past snapshot is kept, which is what makes the rank-history charts on each ranking page possible.

Play education and science as a quiz

Each ranking has a quiz: three minutes to name the top 10, with forgiving spelling and a shareable result card. Ten new quizzes are picked in every category each day on the quizzes page, and every past day stays playable.

Every education and science ranking

• Countries spending the most on research as a share of GDP · Research and development spending (% of GDP) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the highest adult literacy rates · Adult literacy rate (%) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the highest government spending on education as a share of GDP · Government expenditure on education (% of GDP) · World Bank Open Data · weekly
• Countries with the highest pre-primary school enrolment · Pre-primary net enrolment rate (%) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the highest primary school completion rates · Primary school completion rate (%) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the highest share of students from abroad · Inbound student mobility rate (%) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the longest compulsory education · Duration of compulsory education (years) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the longest pre-primary education · Duration of pre-primary education (years) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the most patent applications by residents · Patent applications by residents (thousand) · World Bank Open Data · weekly
• Countries with the most researchers per million people · Researchers in R&D (per million people) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the most scientific journal articles · Scientific and technical journal articles (thousand) · World Bank Open Data · weekly
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum maths level (lower sec.) · Minimum maths proficiency (lower secondary) (%) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum maths level (primary) · Minimum maths proficiency (primary) (%) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum reading level (lower sec.) · Minimum reading proficiency (lower secondary) (%) · Our World in Data · weekly
• Countries with the most students reaching minimum reading level (primary) · Minimum reading proficiency (primary) (%) · Our World in Data · weekly

Questions about education and science rankings

How many education and science rankings are there?

15 live rankings, each with its own quiz, history chart and methodology notes.

Who leads the most education and science rankings?

China, at #1 in 2 rankings as of 2026-11-02.

How often do these rankings update?

15 refresh weekly. A refresh only publishes if it passes the quality gate.

Are the rankings opinions?

No. Each is one metric from one named public source at one time, ranked by software. They are useful comparisons, not advice.