That's partly why the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) tracks new college degrees in 40 of the world's most advanced countries.
The ranking is based on the percentage of science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) degrees awarded per capita so that it's a fair comparison between countries with different populations. For example, Spain ranked 11th by awarding 24% of its degrees in the natural sciences or engineering.
Here's how 10 of the smartest countries in the world stack up when it comes to science degrees:
10. Portugal had 25% of its students graduate with a STEM degree. It has the highest percentage of doctorate holders — 72% — that work in education of all 40 countries surveyed.
8. Mexico moved up from 24% in 2002 to 25% in 2012, despite the government abolishing tax breaks for businesses investments in research and development.
6. Greece spent only 0.08% of its GDP on research in 2013, which was one of the lowest reported among developed countries. It might explain why its STEM degree rate dropped from 28% in 2002 to 26% in 2012.
3. Sweden (28%) is just behind Norway for most computer use at work, including for applications like programming. Over three-quarters of workers use computers at their jobs.
2. Germany (31%) had the third-highest average annual raw number of STEM graduates at about 10,000, right behind the US and China — despite those countries' much larger populations.
Overall, the 40 most science-educated countries in the world saw a drop from 23% STEM degrees in 2002 to 22% a decade later. The US rounded out the bottom of the list in 39th place, with 16% STEM degrees in 2002 and 2012.
Rebecca was an Executive Editor for Business Insider's news division, overseeing the Science, Speed news, Weekend news, LA news, Visual Features, and Voices of Color desks. She worked across teams to assign, coordinate, and edit breaking news, explainers, features, analysis, and investigations. She also developed guides, trainings, and coaching opportunities for the newsroom to get better every day.Rebecca started as a reporter on Tech Insider's science section in 2015, covering everything from solar energy and rocket launches to Zika, before moving to the news team during the summer of 2016 at the height of the presidential election and then running weekend coverage for 2 years. She's previously worked with the Politics, Military & Defense, and Video teams, and served as an editorial liaison with the product team that powers the CMS.She received her Master's degree from the Science, Health and Environmental Reporting Program at New York University, as well as a BS in Biology and a BA in Journalism from the University of Minnesota. Rebecca has also written for Popular Science, Scientific American, Scienceline, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and the Minnesota Daily.ExpertiseBreaking news, legal analysis, criminal justice, police misconduct, public health, abortion, space, energy, visual features, extreme weather, White House history, voting rights, executive actionsPopular articlesJust don't call it 'climate change': What Republicans in Dallas can teach us about saving the planetWhat Buzz Aldrin was thinking when he left the moonHow the 25th Amendment works to remove a sitting presidentHurricane categories tell only part of the storyTRUMP'S FIRST 100 DAYS: Here's how they compare with Obama's, Bush's, and Clinton's
