Verification within Meta’s Third-Party Fact-Checking Program
Information is being shared online claiming that Ukraine did not enter the global top-75 countries by IQ level due to low scores. The post includes a photo of the ranking.
However, this is manipulation. The International IQ Test ranking is not reliable — it is formed solely based on the scores of random users, which can be artificially inflated. The rating sample is non-representative and does not reflect the intelligence level of a country’s population. 
Screenshot of the post
The source of the photo is an account on X called “Statistics,” while the rating data was taken from the anonymous International IQ Test website.
The IQ ranking is formed exclusively based on the online test results of users on the platform, The International IQ Test. The test methodology description claims that the ranking presents data as of January 1, 2025, based on the average IQ in countries across different regions. The study is based on data from 1,352,763 people worldwide who took the same IQ test on the website in 2024. The ranking does not consider results from other available tests or studies, while a complete comparison of countries’ intelligence levels would require collecting broader data from multiple sources.
The problem with the International IQ Test is that it lacks a scientifically controlled sample. Participants are volunteers who access the website themselves, have internet access, are interested in IQ tests, and often take the test multiple times to improve their scores. Additionally, the score can be “boosted” — after completing the test, the user can manually select their country, since the platform does not determine it automatically. Bots can also be used for this purpose. The website provides no information about whether the developers track spam traffic, block mass identical IP addresses, or exclude suspicious accounts from annual statistics.
Moreover, the ranking contains significant differences in the number of respondents per country. For example, over 206,000 people took part in the survey in China, while only 438 participated in Armenia. Such unevenness renders comparisons inaccurate, as results from small samples are far more susceptible to random fluctuations and cannot accurately reflect the actual situation in a country. 
Screenshot of the ranking. Source: International IQ Test
The International IQ Test itself notes that the IQ assessment results for some countries may be insufficiently representative due to a small number of participants (fewer than 1000). At the same time, 92% of such countries maintain a similar average IQ score compared to the previous year (a difference of less than 2 points). Such stability may result from the repeated participation of the same groups and does not guarantee that the results reflect the actual average IQ level of the country’s population. To compare average indicators between different states, the sample must be representative — meaning it is equally formed in terms of the number of participants, their age, education, region, social status, and other relevant characteristics.
Additionally, comparing countries based on the average IQ level of their citizens is methodologically flawed. Intelligence is shaped by cultural, educational, and social environments; therefore, it is impossible to create a universal test equally relevant for all countries.
Earlier, we debunked a similar fake claiming that Ukraine ranked last in Europe by IQ level.
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