Luis Batalha(@luismbat):Mathematics is the canary in the coal mine of any education system: It's a delicate pyramid that crumbles if the base is not strong. Using IMO results, here are the countries that improved most from 2006 to 2026 and those that declined the most. Using rank percentile within each year’s field: Most improved 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: 2.2% → 69.8% (+67.6pp) 🇲🇾 Malaysia: 22.5% → 83.6% (+61.1pp) 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan: 14.6% → 70.7% (+56.1pp) 🇧🇩 Bangladesh: 11.2% → 67.2% (+56.0pp) 🇮🇳 India: 61.8% → 94.8% (+33.0pp) Biggest declines 🇲🇩 Moldova: 91.0% → 55.2% (−35.8pp) 🇮🇹 Italy: 87.6% → 68.1% (−19.5pp) 🇫🇮 Finland: 57.3% → 39.7% (−17.6pp) 🇩🇪 Germany: 96.6% → 83.6% (−13.0pp) 🇹🇼 Taiwan: 89.9% → 80.2% (−9.7pp)

2026.07.25 22:01

Mathematics is the canary in the coal mine of any education system: It's a delicate pyramid that crumbles if the base is not strong. Using IMO results, here are the countries that improved most from 2006 to 2026 and those that declined the most. Using rank percentile within each year’s field: Most improved 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: 2.2% → 69.8% (+67.6pp) 🇲🇾 Malaysia: 22.5% → 83.6% (+61.1pp) 🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan: 14.6% → 70.7% (+56.1pp) 🇧🇩 Bangladesh: 11.2% → 67.2% (+56.0pp) 🇮🇳 India: 61.8% → 94.8% (+33.0pp) Biggest declines 🇲🇩 Moldova: 91.0% → 55.2% (−35.8pp) 🇮🇹 Italy: 87.6% → 68.1% (−19.5pp) 🇫🇮 Finland: 57.3% → 39.7% (−17.6pp) 🇩🇪 Germany: 96.6% → 83.6% (−13.0pp) 🇹🇼 Taiwan: 89.9% → 80.2% (−9.7pp)