The US has the lowest primary and secondary enrollment numbers; science and reading attainment in the US has improved but math scores remain below the advanced democracies.

Education: Primary

COLOR CODING
GreenRanked first for statistic
RedRanked last for statistic
 Gross EnrollmentAttainment
Primary Enrollment %Secondary Enrollment %% GDP SpentScienceReadingMath
Australia1011545.2503503491
Canada1011135.5*518520512
Denmark1021297.6493501509
France1071115.5493493495
Germany1021014.9503498500
Italy1011034.1468476487
Japan991023.6529504527
Netherlands1031335.5503485519
Norway1001147.7490499501
Sweden1231407.7499506502
United Kingdom1021255.6505504502
United States99975.0502504478

SOURCES

Gross Enrollment (columns 1 – 3): 2018 Human Development Statistical Update

Primary enrollment
Percent of primary school-age population (2012 – 2017)
Secondary enrollment 
Percent of secondary school-age population (2012 – 2017)
Percent of GDP Spent
Government Expenditure on Education (2012 – 2017). Current, capital and transfer spending on education, expressed as a percentage of GDP.
*a recent value for Canada was not found so previous 2009 – 2011 value used

Attainment (columns 4 – 6): OECD, Program for International Student Assessment

Science
Mean scores for 15 year olds on the Science scale of the PISA 2018.
Reading
Mean scores for 15 year olds on the Reading scale of the PISA 2018.
Math
Mean scores for 15 year olds on the Math scale of the PISA 2018.

Page updated 1/31/2023.

Notes

“What America Can Learn From Smart Schools in Other Countries”

Amanda Ripley
December 6, 2016.
New York Times. Statistical models for PISA performance can predict up to 85 percent of the variation in results. Factors such as prioritization of low-achieving students, enrollment age, standards for entering teaching, and socioeconomic status (explained 17 percent of U.S. variation in 2006 and 11 percent of U.S. variation in 2011) contribute to performance predictions.