Top 5 countries in Africa with the smartest students: 2026 rankings

• Mauritius leads the five African countries featured in the 2026 student performance ranking.

• Science was the strongest subject across all five countries.

• The ranking covers only five African countries and measures academic performance, not intelligence.

Globally, B-S-J-Z in China tops the rankings with an average score of 578.7, followed by Singapore with 552.7, Chinese Taipei with 531.3, Macao (China) with 530.3 and Japan with 522.0.

The ranking, published by Visual Capitalist on October 31, 2026, uses results from the OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025, released in September 2026. The assessment measures how well 15-year-old students apply their knowledge and skills in mathematics, science and reading.

The overall ranking was calculated by taking the equally weighted average of scores in the three subjects. The results place Mauritius 53rd globally, ahead of Morocco, Kenya, Zambia and Rwanda.

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Mauritius leads the African countries included in the dataset, ranking 53rd globally with an average score of 416.7.

Its students recorded 438 points in science, 407 in mathematics and 405 in reading. Science was the country’s strongest subject, scoring 31 points above mathematics and 33 points above reading.

Mauritius also recorded a considerable lead over the other African countries in the list. Its overall average was 72 points higher than Morocco’s, the second-ranked African country in the dataset.

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Morocco ranks second among the African countries featured and 85th globally, with an average score of 344.7.

The country scored 358 in science, 355 in mathematics and 321 in reading. Its science and mathematics results were relatively close, but reading recorded a lower score than both subjects.

The figures indicate differences in performance across the three assessed areas, although the overall average combines them into a single measure for the ranking.

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Kenya occupies third place among the African countries listed, ranking 88th globally with an average score of 327.0.

Its students scored 335 in science, 326 in mathematics and 320 in reading. Science was the strongest subject, followed by mathematics, while reading recorded the lowest result.

Kenya’s average was 17.7 points below Morocco’s, based on the figures published in the ranking.

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Zambia ranks fourth among the African countries in the dataset and 89th globally, with an average score of 325.3.

The country recorded 337 points in science, 325 in reading and 314 in mathematics. Its science result was 23 points higher than mathematics, which was its lowest-scoring subject.

Zambia’s overall average was only 1.7 points below Kenya’s, placing the two countries close together in the ranking.

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Rwanda completes the five African countries included in the supplied list, ranking 90th globally with an average score of 310.0.

Its students scored 317 in science, 312 in mathematics and 301 in reading. Science was the strongest subject, while reading recorded the lowest score.

Rwanda’s average was 15.3 points below Zambia’s, according to the published figures.

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The results place Mauritius ahead of the other African countries featured, with a stronger overall average across mathematics, reading and science. Science was the highest-scoring subject in all five countries, highlighting the need to examine performance in individual subjects as well as overall results.

However, the ranking is not a definitive measure of which country has the “smartest” students. PISA assesses how well 15-year-olds apply their knowledge and skills in three subjects, rather than measuring innate intelligence or every aspect of educational achievement.

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The findings offer a useful snapshot of student performance, but only five African countries appear in the dataset. They therefore cannot represent the performance of education systems across the entire continent.