These’re the 11 Most Educated Countries in the World. Guess S’pore’s Position?

Last Updated on 2022-09-14 , 3:47 pm

Have you ever wondered how Singapore fare amongst the other countries in terms of education system?

You’d believe Singapore is one of the top ranked countries when it comes to our education system.

This ranking will surprise you (or maybe not).

The World Economic Forum, a non-profit foundation, has ranked the most educated countries in the world as part of its annual Global Competitiveness Report. The lowest score being 1 and highest being 7.

The ranking is also derived based on answers provided by business leaders from each country to questions including: In your country, how well does the education system meet the needs of a competitive economy? And In your country, to what extent do companies invest in training and employee development?

Here’s the top 11 ranked as most educated countries.

#11. Iceland
With a score of 5.9, this tiny Nordic country, with a population of 330,000, spends the least on education among the other Nordic Countries.

#10. New Zealand
New Zealand is constantly ranked amongst the top education systems in the world. Recently, their Government outlined plans to introduce online education courses whereby students are not required attend lessons in school on certain day of the week. This country scored a 5.9 as well.

#9. Australia
It’s nothing new for us as we are bound to have someone around us who went to Australia for further studies. Scoring a 5.9, they have a particularly high proportion of tertiary-educated adults. 43% of the adult population in the country have trained in an institution after leaving school.

#8. United States
In America, 43% of adults have a university education. So it’s no surprise they are ranked as one of the top most educated countries – with a score of 5.9.

#7. Norway
Norway’s individual tax rates (as at YA2016) is at 46.9% and they invest heavily in education – an estimate of about SGD$18,000 per pupil from primary to tertiary education annually. Norway, too, scored a 5.9.

#6. Denmark
Scoring a 5.9, Denmark spends the largest share of its wealth on education; the total expenditure on educational institutions of 7.9% of its GDP. It’s no surprise their education system is one of the best considering they invest so much in it.

#5. Belgium
In Belgium, the unemployment rates for those with tertiary education is only 3%. The unemployment rate in general is, too, lower than the European average. Not only that, teaching is an extremely well-paid profession in the country – teachers’ salaries are on an average of SGD$96,000. They score a 6.0 in this ranking.

#4. Switzerland
With a score of 6.0, Switzerland spends an average of SGD$21,000 per student per annum and they have 86% of the population’s age group between 25 to 64 years old attaining full secondary education.

#3. Netherlands
A third of Dutch aged between 25 to 64 year old hold a university degree; which is higher than the average. Netherlands scored a 6.1 in this ranking.

#2. Finland
Since the 2010 documentary Waiting for Superman aired, Finland’s education system has been widely-acclaimed. The teachers are selected from the top 10% of the country’s graduates and they are required to have a master’s degree in education before they can become a teacher. With all this, it’s no surprise they are ranked 2^nd with a score of 6.2.

And the number 1 ranked country with the most educated country?

#1. Singapore
We are famously known as a “pressure cooker” for the intensity and strictness in our education system and hence we are the most highly-regarded in the world. Our education in the maths and science ability aspects are often ranked top with our education system.

Were you surprised by the results? Maybe, maybe not.

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