UIS · Researchers per Million Inhabitants
Researchers per million people by country
How many people work in research for every million inhabitants?
Liechtenstein placed first of the 127 countries compared in the 2024 edition, at 18,129.8, and Guatemala last, at 1.4. In the middle country the figure was 848.9. 18 readings from before 2014 are listed but not compared.
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Researchers per million people · the 2024 edition
Context statistic
Highest of 127Liechtenstein
18,129.801the 2024 edition · position · derived
Who leads
The three countries at the highest end of 127 compared, the three at the other end, and the first on each continent.
1Photo: Guido Radig,Inkey · CC BY 3.0, greyscale
2Photo: Unknown author · CC BY-SA 2.0, greyscale
3Photo: User:Pieter Kuiper · Public domain, greyscale
Highest on each continent
- Africa
Algeria1,764.0 - Americas
Canada5,624.3 - Asia
South Korea9,471.8 - EuropeLiechtenstein18,129.8
- Oceania
New Zealand5,435.52 of 21 measured
- Every region
02Every measured country
Researchers per million people on a map
Each country is shaded by its value, in five groups holding the same number of countries. Hover a country for its value, or select it to open its profile. Below the map, each continent’s middle country.
Darker is a higher value — the better end.
- 1.4–127.0
- 133.1–572.4
- 576.0–1,592.0
- 1,662.5–4,634.1
- 4,800.4–18,129.8
- Hatched: a reading from before 2014, listed but not compared (18)
- No reading in the 2024 edition
- Europe
4,488.6
the middle country, of 40 measured · 49 members
Liechtenstein18,129.8
Albania428.7Highest and lowest reading in Europe.
- Asia
842.5
the middle country, of 36 measured · 52 members
South Korea9,471.8
Myanmar28.0Highest and lowest reading in Asia.
- Americas
400.3
the middle country, of 21 measured · 48 members
Canada5,624.3
Guatemala1.4Highest and lowest reading in Americas.
- Africa
88.3
the middle country, of 28 measured · 55 members
Algeria1,764.0
DR Congo10.1Highest and lowest reading in Africa.
- Oceania
2 of 21 measured — too few for a middle: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea.
New Zealand5,435.5
Papua New Guinea33.2Highest and lowest reading in Oceania.
- Every region
20 sub-regions, highest middle country first
- Western Europe
6,049.0
the middle country, of 8 measured · 9 members
Liechtenstein18,129.8
Luxembourg5,359.1Highest and lowest reading in Western Europe.
- Northern Europe
5,852.7
the middle country, of 10 measured · 13 members
Sweden8,910.7
Latvia2,190.9Highest and lowest reading in Northern Europe.
- Eastern Asia
5,121.4
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
South Korea9,471.8
Mongolia535.4Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Asia.
- Southern Europe
2,563.9
the middle country, of 12 measured · 17 members
Portugal5,983.3Albania428.7Highest and lowest reading in Southern Europe.
- Eastern Europe
2,519.6
the middle country, of 10 measured · 10 members
Hungary4,567.1
Ukraine586.1Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Europe.
- Western Asia
945.0
the middle country, of 14 measured · 19 members
Türkiye2,644.7
Syria139.9Highest and lowest reading in Western Asia.
- South-eastern Asia
506.2
the middle country, of 9 measured · 11 members
Singapore8,781.7Myanmar28.0Highest and lowest reading in South-eastern Asia.
- South America
400.3
the middle country, of 9 measured · 12 members
Argentina1,312.8
Bolivia63.1Highest and lowest reading in South America.
- Southern Asia
259.3
the middle country, of 5 measured · 9 members
Iran2,239.7
Sri Lanka94.5Highest and lowest reading in Southern Asia.
- Central America
219.2
the middle country, of 6 measured · 8 members
Costa Rica507.8Guatemala1.4Highest and lowest reading in Central America.
- Eastern Africa
81.3
the middle country, of 9 measured · 19 members
Mauritius688.5
Burundi22.5Highest and lowest reading in Eastern Africa.
- Western Africa
57.8
the middle country, of 7 measured · 16 members
Senegal572.4
Nigeria22.1Highest and lowest reading in Western Africa.
- Australia and New Zealand
1 of 2 measured — too few for a middle: New Zealand.
New Zealand5,435.5Highest and lowest reading in Australia and New Zealand.
- Caribbean
4 of 24 measured — too few for a middle: Cuba, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago.
Cuba2,171.3
Dominican Republic20.0Highest and lowest reading in Caribbean.
- Central Asia
2 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan.
Kazakhstan758.0
Uzbekistan639.5Highest and lowest reading in Central Asia.
- Melanesia
1 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Papua New Guinea.
Papua New Guinea33.2Highest and lowest reading in Melanesia.
- Middle Africa
4 of 9 measured — too few for a middle: Angola, Chad, DR Congo, Republic of the Congo.
Republic of the Congo127.0DR Congo10.1Highest and lowest reading in Middle Africa.
- Northern Africa
4 of 6 measured — too few for a middle: Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia.
Algeria1,764.0
Morocco1,083.4Highest and lowest reading in Northern Africa.
- Northern America
2 of 4 measured — too few for a middle: Canada, United States.
Canada5,624.3
United States4,937.5Highest and lowest reading in Northern America.
- Southern Africa
4 of 5 measured — too few for a middle: Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia, South Africa.
South Africa444.2
Lesotho32.2Highest and lowest reading in Southern Africa.
03The whole field at once
The spread
127 countries, one dot each, on one scale — further right is a higher value. Half the countries are above 848.9; a quarter are above 3,580.2, and a quarter below 172.1. The bar in each row marks that continent’s middle country.
Log scale: each gridline is ten times the one before, so countries of very different sizes can be seen on one line.
04All 145 ever measured
Every country
In order, highest value first. “=” marks a position shared with another country. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) ranks nobody on this measure; the position is derived here by ordering the published values. It is counted per head of population, not per worker, so a very small country with one large research employer can sit far above everyone else. Readings more than ten years older than the edition are listed but not compared.
Showing 25 of 145 countries
Values for the 2024 edition.
05In this edition
Researchers per million people in records
The extremes of the statistic. A record reached by more than one country names none of them.
Highest reading
18,129.8
Researchers per million inhabitants (full-time equivalent)
Lowest reading
1.4
Researchers per million inhabitants (full-time equivalent)
06The measure
About researchers per million people
Researchers per million inhabitants counts the people employed to create new knowledge — in business, government, universities and non-profits — in full-time equivalents, against every million people. It is SDG indicator 9.5.2, the people-side counterpart to research and development spending.
What the number is: Researchers per million inhabitants (full-time equivalent).
07Where it fits
Connections
Its part in the Country Index, the statistics whose values line up most closely with it across countries, and others on the same subject.
In the Country Index
Context, with no vote
This statistic is published in full under Economy & Innovation and Education & Knowledge, but does not help decide any Country Index standing.
Economy & InnovationEducation & KnowledgeWhich statistics vote, and why
Moves with
Where researchers per million people is higher, these tend to be higher too.
- Inequality-adjusted Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 116 countries in commonρ 0.91
- ND-GAIN Country IndexNotre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN), University of Notre Dame · 123 countries in commonρ 0.90
- Human Development IndexKeyUNDP Human Development Report Office · 125 countries in commonρ 0.90
Moves against
Where researchers per million people is higher, these tend to be lower.
- Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 122 countries in commonρ −0.88
- Learning PovertyWorld Bank Group and UNESCO Institute for Statistics · 91 countries in commonρ −0.87
- Mortality Rate, Ages 5–14UN IGME · 123 countries in commonρ −0.86
Rank correlation (ρ, from −1 to 1) across countries, on each statistic’s newest edition, out of 333 statistics sharing at least 80 countries with this one. Two statistics that move together do not cause each other.
08Keep reading
Explore further
The subject
The data, edition by edition
The countries at either end
09Questions
Researchers per million people: questions and answers
Which country has the highest researchers per million people?
Liechtenstein, at 18,129.8, among the 127 countries compared in the 2024 edition.
Which country has the lowest researchers per million people?
Guatemala, at 1.4, among the 127 countries compared in the 2024 edition.
How many countries does the Researchers per Million Inhabitants cover?
127 in the 2024 edition, and 145 at least once across all editions.
What is the world average researchers per million people?
This site does not calculate a world average, which would depend on how countries are weighted. In the middle country of the 127 compared in the 2024 edition, the figure was 848.9.
Is this UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)’s own ranking?
No. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) publishes the values but ranks nobody; the position on this page is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values, and equal values share a position.
How often is the Researchers per Million Inhabitants published?
This site holds one edition, describing 2024.
Where does the data come from, and can I download it?
From UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), under CC BY-SA 4.0. From the UNESCO Institute for Statistics data API (researchers per million inhabitants, full-time equivalent), latest available reading per country. Every edition is on this site’s Datasets pages as a full table, and downloads as a CSV file with every value unrounded.
10Method
Sources, method and citation
Source
Researchers per Million Inhabitants — UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)
From the UNESCO Institute for Statistics data API (researchers per million inhabitants, full-time equivalent), latest available reading per country.
Newest edition
Report year 2024Data year not recorded
Cite the source as: UNESCO Institute for Statistics. UIS Data Browser. Montreal: UNESCO Institute for Statistics.
Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0, checked 2026-09-26.
How this page reads the numbers
- UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) ranks nobody on this measure. The position is derived by Nations Inquiry by ordering the published values; equal values share a position.
- Which end is better follows the publisher’s own reading of the measure.
- A country is named at an end only when it holds that value alone. Where several share it, the page says how many and names none first.
- The file gives each country’s most recent reading, so the rows are from different years. Readings from before 2014 are listed but left out of every comparison on this page.
- Values are stored exactly as published and trimmed only for display. “The middle country” is the median of the countries measured, not a world average.
The file itself, column by column — where it came from, what each column holds, and every edition as a CSV — is on its dataset page.
Photographs
The countries at the top of this statistic, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.
- Liechtenstein — Guido Radig,Inkey, CC BY 3.0
- South Korea — Unknown author, CC BY-SA 2.0
- Sweden — User:Pieter Kuiper, Public domain
Cite this page
Nations Inquiry (2026). Researchers per million people by country: Researchers per Million Inhabitants, data from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). https://nationsinquiry.com/statistics/researchers-per-million