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IQs in various countries


Country City Mean IQ
Holland Amsterdam
109.4
Germany Hamburg
109.3
Poland Warsaw
108.3
Sweden Stockholm
105.8
Yugoslavia Zagreb
105.7
Italy Rome
103.8
Austria Vienna
103.5
Switzerland Zurich
102.8
Portugal Lisbon
102.6
Great Britain London
102.0
Norway Oslo
101.8
Denmark Copenhagen
100.7
Hungary Budapest
100.5
Czechoslovakia Bratislava
100.4
Spain Madrid
100.3
Belgium Brussels
99.7
Greece Athens
99.4
Ireland Dublin
99.2
Finland Helsinki
98.1
Bulgaria Sofia
96.3
France Paris
96.1
From V. Buj, Person. & Individ. Diff., Vol. 2, pp. 168 to 169, 1981
Subjects >16 yrs. old tested on the Cattell Culture Fair Test 3 (16 SD), standardized in the USA (IQ=100).
 

IQs in various countries

The error bars are the Standard Error of Measurement * 1.96, or a 95% confidence interval. The Flynn Effect Adjustment was done when culturally reduced rates were available. The calculation was done from 1980 to 1986 with the rates converted to 16 SD and subtracting the American full scale rate. Excessive trust should not be placed on the differences between the countries; the error bars often overlap with the averages of other countries. Some of the Flynn Effect rates are based on better data than others. And notice that it is unsatisfactory to subtract the American full scale rate instead of a culturally reduced or performance rate.

The following are some children’s relatively modern IQ scores relative to American norms (IQ=100), on a 15 SD scale and based on both verbal and performance type data, unless otherwise stated. The Asian data are the highest scores found in the data sources. That is, sometimes studies find lower Asian scores. On average, children from Asian countries get about a 107 IQ relative to American norms.

1. Canadian children scored Full Scale IQ= 103.34, Verbal= 101.4, Performance = 104.96 on the (American) WISC-III. Source: Wechsler, D. (1996), Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children – Third Edition, Canadian Supplement. (Communicated by Dr. D. Saklofske).

2. Chinese children, in or around Beijing scored 109.4. According to Li, Jin, Vandernberg, Zhu, and Tang, 1990, as cited in R. Lynn (1997), Geographical variation in intelligence. In Helmuth Nyborg (Ed.) The Scientific Study of Human Nature. I kept Lynn’s adjustment for the Flynn Effect (The WISC-R Chinese standardization was done 10 years later than the American).

3. In Nagoya Japan, the score was 110.24. It was adjusted up by 3.34 points because testing was done on the Canadian Cognitive Abilities Test (see note 1). Source: Takeuchi and Scott (1992) as cited by R. Lynn (1997), Geographical variation in intelligence. In Helmuth Nyborg (Ed.) The Scientific Study of Human Nature. It seems that the Japanese gains have started to level off.

4. South Korean children got a score of 109 versus British children. Source: Lynn and Ja Song (1994) as cited by R. Lynn (1997), Geographical variation in intelligence. In Helmuth Nyborg (Ed.) The Scientific Study of Human Nature.

5. Taiwanese children versus British children: 104.7, on a culturally reduced test. Adjusted for the Flynn Effect by R. Lynn (1997), Geographical variation in intelligence. In Helmuth Nyborg (Ed.) The Scientific Study of Human Nature.

6. Hong Kong versus British children: 116 on a culturally reduced test. Source: Chan and Lynn (1989), The intelligence of six-year-olds in Hong Kong, J. biosoc. Sci. Vol. 21, pp. 461-464.

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