Many people have been asking this question and many surveys have been carried out on this topic over the years (No African institution has ever done one). One of the latest and most extensive IQ studies comes from Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen. While I may not entirely endorse the findings, I believe it’s worth sharing the results. Here are the top 20 African countries with the lowest average IQ.
Top 20 African Countries With The Lowest Average Intelligence (2024)
| Rank | Country | Average IQ |
|---|---|---|
| 20. | Burundi | 69 |
| 19. | Côte d’Ivoire | 69 |
| 18. | Ethiopia | 69 |
| 17. | Malawi | 69 |
| 16. | Niger | 69 |
| 15. | Angola | 68 |
| 14. | Burkina Faso | 68 |
| 13. | Chad | 68 |
| 12. | Djibouti | 68 |
| 11. | Somalia | 68 |
| 10. | Swaziland | 68 |
| 9. | Guinea | 67 |
| 8. | Guinea-Bissau | 67 |
| 7. | Liberia | 67 |
| 6. | Sao tome and principe | 67 |
| 5. | The Gambia | 66 |
| 4. | Cameroon | 64 |
| 3. | Gabon | 64 |
| 2. | Mozambique | 64 |
| 1. | Equitorial Guinea | 59 |
On a similar note, these are the African Countries With The Highest IQ.
According to the same data, citizens of Sierra Leone have the highest IQ in Africa, making them the smartest in Africa, they are closely followed by Mauritius, Seychelles, Eritrea and Morocco.
On the issue of Intelligence Quotient, Richard and Tatu argues that differences in national income are correlated with differences in the average national intelligence quotient (IQ). They further argue that differences in average national IQs constitute one important factor, but not the only one, contributing to differences in national wealth and rates of economic growth.
Note: These result of the 10 African Countries With The Highest Average IQ is controversial and have caused much debate, they must be interpreted with extreme caution.
Top 10 African Countries With The Highest Average IQ (2024)
| Country | Rank | Average IQ |
| Sierra Leone | 1 | 91 |
| Mauritius | 2 | 89 |
| Seychelles | 3 | 86 |
| Eritrea | 4 | 85 |
| Morocco | 5 | 84 |
| Nigeria | 5 | 84 |
| Uganda | 5 | 84 |
| Algeria | 6 | 83 |
| Libya | 6 | 83 |
| Tunisia | 6 | 83 |
| Madagascar | 7 | 82 |
| Zimbabwe | 7 | 82 |
| Egypt | 8 | 81 |
| Kenya | 9 | 80 |
| Zambia | 10 | 79 |
Top 10 Countries With The Highest Average IQ in the World
Asia and Europe dominate the list, with Hong kong taking the top spot. Singapore and Japan comes in an impressive second. Europe has over five nations in the top ten – Italy in fifth, Switzerland in sixth, Austria, Luxemborg, Norway, UK, Belgium and Netherlands in seventh, Belgium in eight and the finland in eighth. The list below proves that Asia truly is the future.
Top 10 Countries With The Highest Average IQ
| Country | Rank | Average IQ |
| Hong Kong | 1 | 108 |
| Singapore | 2 | 108 |
| South Korea | 2 | 106 |
| Japan | 3 | 105 |
| China | 3 | 105 |
| Taiwan | 4 | 104 |
| Italy | 5 | 102 |
| Iceland | 6 | 101 |
| Mongolia | 6 | 101 |
| Switzerland | 6 | 101 |
| Austria | 7 | 100 |
| Luxemborg | 7 | 100 |
| Netherlands | 7 | 100 |
| Norway | 7 | 100 |
| United Kingdom | 7 | 100 |
| Belgium | 8 | 99 |
| Canada | 8 | 99 |
| Estonia | 8 | 99 |
| Finland | 8 | 99 |
| Germany | 8 | 99 |
| Poland | 8 | 99 |
| Sweden | 8 | 99 |
| Andorra | 9 | 98 |
| Austria | 9 | 98 |
| Czech | 9 | 98 |
| Denmark | 9 | 98 |
| France | 9 | 98 |
| Uruguay | 9 | 98 |
| Latvia | 9 | 98 |
| Spain | 9 | 98 |
| United States | 9 | 98 |
| Belarus | 10 | 97 |
Methodology & Conclusion
Richard Lynn and Tatu Vanhanen created estimates of average IQs for 113 nations. They estimated IQs of 79 other nations based on neighboring nations or by other methods. They also created an estimate of “quality of human conditions” for each nation based on gross national product per capita, adult literacy rate, fraction of the population to enroll in secondary education, life expectancy, and rate of democratization. After finding a substantial correlation between the national IQ scores they created and these various socioeconomic factors. Their concluded that national IQ influences these measures of well-being, and that national differences in IQ are heavily influenced by genetics, although they also allow for some environmental contributions to it. They regard nutrition as the most important environmental factor, and education a secondary factor.
Sources:
IQ and the Wealth of Nations (2006)
IQ and Global Inequality (2002)
Studies of national cognitive ability (Wikiwand)
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Note: This ranking of the top 20 African Countries With The Lowest Average IQ is controversial and have caused much debate, they must be interpreted with extreme caution.
Modified in November, 2024
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