It turns out Malaysians are not only street-smart, but book-smart too — and the numbers now back it up.
A new 2025 report from the International IQ Test reveals that Malaysia is among the world’s top 25 most intelligent countries, landing at an impressive 22nd place with an average IQ of 100.48.
Photo via The Star
That score puts Malaysia above the global average and ahead of several more developed nations, shining a spotlight on the country’s growing intellectual profile. Within Southeast Asia, Malaysia proudly holds the third-highest spot, trailing just behind Singapore (ranked 5th) and Thailand (15th).
Zooming out to a wider view, Malaysia sits in 10th place across the entire Asian continent — a noteworthy position considering the region’s highly competitive education and innovation landscape.
On the other end of the scale, Indonesia placed 98th with an average IQ of 93.18, underlining a stark contrast in cognitive rankings among neighbouring nations.
Globally, the average IQ is set at 100. However, this figure is heavily skewed by China’s performance. With an average IQ of 107.19 and accounting for around 18% of the world’s population, China’s results have a substantial impact on lifting the global mean.
📊 Average IQ in Southeast Asia (2025) Here’s the latest ranking of average IQ scores in Southeast Asian countries,...
Posted by SEA Infographics on Wednesday 15 January 2025
How are the rankings determined?
The International IQ Test calculates national IQ averages based on voluntary online assessments taken by thousands of individuals worldwide. For the 2025 report, over 19,000 participants contributed data.
Each country’s average is derived from scores across multiple standardised cognitive tasks, including problem-solving, memory, logic, and pattern recognition. While not a perfect science, the results offer insight into cognitive trends across different regions — and Malaysia is clearly thinking on its feet.
