Kazakhstan recorded a decline in its average IQ score in the 2026 global ranking amid a twofold increase in the number of participants, QazMonitor reports, citing Ranking.kz.
The updated 2026 average IQ ranking, compiled based on 2025 results, included 1.2 million participants from 137 countries. South Korea, China and Japan ranked first, second and third, respectively. The top ten also included Iran, Australia, Russia, Singapore, Mongolia, New Zealand and Vietnam.
Nearly one-third of all participants came from the top ten countries. More than a quarter of global test-takers were from China (229,000 people), Japan (56,000) and Russia (29,000). Russia recorded growth both in its average IQ score and in the number of participants, which increased 1.5 times.
Central Asian countries were positioned in the lower part of the ranking. Uzbekistan led the region with an average score of 96.51, down 0.28 points from the previous year. Kazakhstan recorded an average IQ of 95.92, a decrease of 1.25 points year-on-year.
At the same time, the number of participants in Kazakhstan more than doubled to nearly 13,000. In contrast, the number of test-takers in Uzbekistan nearly halved to 4,671.
In the Kyrgyz Republic, the average IQ stood at 94.48 (down 0.37), while Tajikistan recorded 93.39 (down 0.16). The number of participants increased by 87% in Kyrgyzstan and 53% in Tajikistan.
