PISA 2025 report findings on global education decline

The 2025 PISA results released by the OECD reveal a significant global decline in student proficiency across reading, mathematics, and science. The global average reading score has dropped from 501 points in 2012 to 466 points in 2025, marking the lowest level of reading comprehension this century. Experts attribute this decline to increased leisure time spent on digital devices—averaging 3.4 hours per weekday—and a reduction in reading for pleasure. While Asian nations such as Singapore, Japan, and South Korea continue to dominate top rankings, other regions face steep declines. The United States has seen literacy and numeracy levels drop to a 25-year low. In Denmark, reading and mathematics levels have fallen by nearly two years of learning since 2015. In Argentina, the Academy of National Education expressed deep concern as students reached their worst results in 20 years.

In Brazil, performance has remained largely stagnant. While the country avoided a decline by maintaining relatively stable results compared to 2022, analysts note that the narrowing gap between Brazilian students and the OECD average is primarily due to declining scores among OECD member nations. Brazil’s scores—408 in reading, 377 in mathematics, and 409 in science—remain below the OECD averages of 466, 469, and 486, respectively. Specific data for Brazil highlights a significant deficit in mathematics, representing approximately 4.6 years of schooling, with only 28% of students reaching the minimum proficiency level. Socioeconomic inequalities remain a major factor, evidenced by a 96-point gap in science scores between wealthy and vulnerable students. Technological trends show that 46% of students use artificial intelligence weekly for studying, even as 81% study in institutions with mobile phone restrictions. A growing engagement crisis is evident, with approximately 57% of students globally finding learning new things ‘boring’.