“The factors we examine present a complex and nuanced portrait of a nation’s cultural vitality,” said Miller in a statement. “And what the rankings strongly suggest and world literacy demonstrates is that these kinds of literate behaviors are critical to the success of individuals and nations in the knowledge-based economies that define our global future.”
Miller’s team set out to analyze data for 200 countries but was only able to find reliable information for the 61 included in the study. No nation from central Africa is included. Other Nordic countries—Norway, Iceland, Denmark, and Sweden—round out the top five spots in the ranking because “their monolithic culture values reading,” said Miller. Meanwhile, the United States came in seventh in the study. Botswana ranked last, while Colombia, Morocco, Thailand, and Indonesia rounded out the bottom five.
The study is the first of its kind to weave together data on behavioral factors that indicate literacy—such as the newspaper circulation—with reading scores from standardized tests. Miller and his team analyzed data from assessments such as the triennial Programme for International Student Assessment test, the most highly regarded international standardized exam in the world. "The Pacific Rim countries, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and China, would top the list if test performance was the only measure," said Miller. However, “when factors such as library size and accessibility are added in, the Pacific Rim nations drop dramatically,” he said
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