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World’s Best Schools: Number of Top-500 Universities by Country

March 3, 2023 5 Comments

Number of Top-500 Universities by Country

Map created by reddit user Quackattackaggie

The map above tells a few interesting stories. On the surface it shows that the US is the clear leader in higher education, with 146 out of the world’s top 500 universities (29.2%). This is over 3 times more than China, the next closest country.

However, that’s not the only thing that’s interesting.

Below the surface it shows that the majority of the world’s countries don’t have a single top 500 university. This means many of today’s developing countries may find it difficult to shift their economies to more knowledge based ones as they develop.

The data comes from the The Shanghai Ranking System and the devil can be in the details. For example, while China has the second largest number of top 500 universities, it lacks a single one in the top 100. Demonstrating that while it’s closing the gap with the US, it still has a long way to go.

When taken as a region, Europe still comes out on top with 205 universities, followed by the Americas (North and South America) with 176, Asia/Pacific with 114 and Africa with only 5. However, when looking at the cream of the crop the US leads with 16 of the top 20 and 55 of the top 100. Europe on the other hand only has 4 of the top 20 and 35 of the top 100.

Here’s a look at how countries performed:

Country Top20 Top100 Top200 Top300 Top400 Top500
United States
16
51
78
102
125
146
United Kingdom
3
9
21
28
33
37
Switzerland
1
4
6
7
7
7
Germany
—
4
13
21
28
39
France
—
4
8
15
18
22
Australia
—
4
8
11
19
20
Netherlands
—
4
8
10
12
12
Japan
—
4
7
9
12
18
Canada
—
4
6
16
18
20
Sweden
—
3
5
7
10
11
Belgium
—
2
4
6
7
7
Israel
—
2
4
4
4
6
Denmark
—
2
3
4
5
5
Norway
—
1
2
3
3
3
Finland
—
1
1
1
3
6
Russia
—
1
1
1
2
2
China
—
—
10
19
37
44
Italy
—
—
5
8
10
20
Saudi Arabia
—
—
2
2
3
4
Singapore
—
—
2
2
2
2
Spain
—
—
1
5
8
13
South Korea
—
—
1
5
8
12
Austria
—
—
1
3
3
6
Brazil
—
—
1
1
4
6
Ireland
—
—
1
1
2
3
Argentina
—
—
1
1
1
1
South Africa
—
—
—
2
2
4
New Zealand
—
—
—
2
2
2
Portugal
—
—
—
1
2
3
Iran
—
—
—
1
1
2
Czech
—
—
—
1
1
1
Mexico
—
—
—
1
1
1
Poland
—
—
—
—
2
2
Chile
—
—
—
—
1
2
Greece
—
—
—
—
1
2
Malaysia
—
—
—
—
1
2
India
—
—
—
—
1
1
Serbia
—
—
—
—
1
1
Hungary
—
—
—
—
—
2
Egypt
—
—
—
—
—
1
Slovenia
—
—
—
—
—
1
Turkey
—
—
—
—
—
1
Total
20
100
200
300
400
500

For a complete list of universities see Academic Ranking of World Universities 2015 and you can learn more about their methodology here.

Another way to look at the data is to look at the number of top 500 universities per million people, which yields a totally different set of rankings (data from reddit user drunken_life_coach):

  1. Sweden: 1.147
  2. Finland: 1.103
  3. Denmark: 0.891
  4. Switzerland: 0.866
  5. Australia: 0.865
  6. Israel: 0.745
  7. Netherlands: 0.714
  8. Austria: 0.708
  9. Ireland: 0.653
  10. Belgium: 0.625
  11. Norway: 0.590
  12. Canada: 0.569
  13. UK: 0.577
  14. Slovenia: 0.485
  15. Germany: 0.484
  16. USA: 0.458
  17. New Zealand: 0.447
  18. Singapore: 0.370
  19. Italy: 0.334
  20. France: 0.333
  21. Portugal: 0.287
  22. Spain: 0.278
  23. South Korea: 0.239
  24. Hungary: 0.202
  25. Greece: 0.181
  26. Japan: 0.141
  27. Serbia: 0.140
  28. Saudi Arabia: 0.139
  29. Chile: 0.114
  30. Czech Republic: 0.095
  31. South Africa: 0.076
  32. Malaysia: 0.67
  33. Poland: 0.052
  34. China: 0.032
  35. Brazil: 0.030
  36. Iran: 0.026
  37. Argentina: 0.024
  38. Russia: 0.014
  39. Turkey: 0.013
  40. Egypt: 0.012
  41. Mexico: 0.008
  42. India: 0.001

To learn more about global education have a look at the following books:

  • College (Un)bound: The Future of Higher Education and What It Means for Students
  • What the Best College Teachers Do
  • The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way

Like this map? Then please share it with your friends.

Filed Under: World Maps Tagged With: education

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Comments

  1. Georgios says

    September 2, 2015 at 2:55 am

    This is another anglocentric boasting. In reality, Russian universities are next to none in this world.

    Reply
    • mP says

      November 8, 2019 at 5:08 am

      Wonder where those Russian rocket and nuclear scientists learnt their knowledge

      Reply
      • Ali says

        May 21, 2022 at 8:42 pm

        Yes you are right do not believe him what is his evidence you mentionec that brilliant thing russian did iam wondering whom to listen ranking or people???

        Reply
  2. C Jasz says

    September 2, 2015 at 7:39 pm

    Diploma does not secure a good job.

    Reply
  3. Darrell Norris says

    March 9, 2020 at 12:54 pm

    Bad map. The color temperature effect is “off”. The eye sees red as high and light green as lowish. The value range is ill-chosen. The variable mapped is a size-dependent absolute number. Much better to map the ratios noted toward the end of the text.

    Reply

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