Average IQ in Oceania by Country: 14-Country Ranking
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Key Takeaways
- This table covers 14 Oceanian countries in the IQ Career Lab dataset.
- Australia has the highest estimate in the region at 102, followed by New Zealand at 101.
- Small Pacific populations often have less direct psychometric evidence than Australia or New Zealand.
- Source quality matters more than the apparent precision of a one-point ranking gap.
- Every row links to a country profile with its source and contextual indicators.
Oceanian IQ estimates by country
| Rank | Country | Average IQ | Source | Source year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australia | 102 | Becker (2019) | 2019 |
| 2 | New Zealand | 101 | Becker (2019) | 2019 |
| 3 | Fiji | 87 | Lynn & Vanhanen (2012) | 2012 |
| 4 | Samoa | 87 | Lynn & Vanhanen (2012) | 2012 |
| 5 | Tonga | 87 | Lynn & Vanhanen (2012) | 2012 |
| 6 | Kiribati | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
| 7 | Marshall Islands | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
| 8 | Micronesia | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
| 9 | Nauru | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
| 10 | Palau | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
| 11 | Papua New Guinea | 84 | Lynn & Vanhanen (2012) | 2012 |
| 12 | Solomon Islands | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
| 13 | Tuvalu | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
| 14 | Vanuatu | 84 | World Population Review (2025) | 2025 |
These are country-level estimates from the dataset that powers IQ Career Lab's country profiles. Source methods and years vary by country. The lowest estimate in this regional table is Vanuatu at 84. National averages should not be used to infer the ability of an individual person.
Where does your country rank?
Find any of 195 countries and open its full IQ profile, global ranking, education data, and comparisons.
Australia and New Zealand versus the Pacific islands
Australia and New Zealand have large modern education systems and much richer statistical infrastructure than many Pacific island nations. That difference affects how confidently any regional comparison can be made.
A value shown for a small island country may be based on older or less representative evidence. The table deliberately keeps the source family and source year visible so the ranking cannot be separated from provenance.
Why small-country estimates are difficult
Nationally representative cognitive testing becomes harder when populations are small, geographically dispersed, multilingual or spread across islands. A study can easily over-represent one school system, urban center or age group.
That does not make all small-country estimates useless. It means their uncertainty should be part of the interpretation.
Is the regional average meaningful?
Only in a limited descriptive sense. Oceania's dataset mean mixes Australia and New Zealand with many Pacific island states that have different demographic and measurement contexts. It should not be treated as a single regional cognitive benchmark.
The most responsible use is exploratory: identify a country, open its profile, inspect the source, then compare broad context such as schooling, literacy and development indicators.
Individual ability is a different question
Country averages cannot tell you how any Australian, New Zealander, Fijian, Samoan or other individual will perform on an IQ test. Individual variation dominates.
For personal score interpretation, use the IQ score meaning tool or the percentile reference.
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