Top Countries in Physics and Astronomy Research
United States ranks first in 2022-now, followed by China and Germany, out of 76 ranked countries.
Quality score: the square root of excellence (the share of works in the world top 10% against what the place's own topics predict, on English-language articles and reviews) times the square root of the journal factor (its papers in the Nature Index's selective journals against what its topics predict), times output to the power 0.3 times breadth (how much of the selected area it works in) to the power 0.25. Floor: 100 fractional works in this field.
Ranked by research quality, 2022-now
| # | Country | Score | Top-10% rate | Works | Citations | All time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States |
100.0 | 12.2% | 87k | 664k | #1 |
| 2 |  China |
84.0 | 11.6% | 102k | 731k | #3 |
| 3 |  Germany |
74.6 | 11.1% | 26k | 201k | #2 |
| 4 |  United Kingdom |
68.0 | 12.3% | 18k | 147k | #5 |
| 5 |  France |
62.8 | 9.8% | 21k | 162k | #4 |
| 6 |  Switzerland |
58.6 | 14.6% | 5.7k | 56k | #6 |
| 7 |  Italy |
55.1 | 10.5% | 18k | 133k | #7 |
| 8 |  Netherlands |
52.0 | 13.3% | 4.6k | 44k | #9 |
| 9 |  Spain |
49.3 | 11.0% | 10k | 78k | #8 |
| 10 |  Japan |
46.8 | 7.4% | 22k | 130k | #10 |
| 11 |  Canada |
44.6 | 10.5% | 7.8k | 57k | #11 |
| 12 |  Australia |
42.6 | 12.5% | 5.8k | 52k | #14 |
| 13 |  Sweden |
40.8 | 12.7% | 3.3k | 29k | #13 |
| 14 |  Austria |
39.1 | 11.7% | 2.6k | 21k | #12 |
| 15 |  Israel |
37.5 | 9.7% | 3.2k | 24k | #15 |
| 16 |  South Korea |
36.0 | 9.0% | 7.6k | 47k | #17 |
| 17 |  Singapore |
34.6 | 15.7% | 1.7k | 17k | #18 |
| 18 |  Denmark |
33.3 | 13.7% | 1.9k | 18k | #16 |
| 19 |  India |
32.0 | 6.2% | 26k | 123k | #21 |
| 20 |  Belgium |
30.8 | 11.0% | 2.8k | 20k | #19 |
| 21 |  Czechia |
29.7 | 8.8% | 3.1k | 19k | #22 |
| 22 |  Finland |
28.6 | 10.9% | 1.6k | 13k | #20 |
| 23 |  Poland |
27.6 | 7.3% | 5.6k | 29k | #23 |
| 24 |  Norway |
26.6 | 10.2% | 1.3k | 8.7k | #25 |
| 25 |  Portugal |
25.7 | 9.1% | 1.9k | 13k | #28 |
| 26 |  Brazil |
24.8 | 4.8% | 7k | 30k | #27 |
| 27 |  Hungary |
23.9 | 7.0% | 1.6k | 8.4k | #29 |
| 28 |  Taiwan |
23.1 | 7.4% | 3.3k | 19k | #33 |
| 29 |  Chile |
22.2 | 7.9% | 2k | 15k | #26 |
| 30 |  Russia |
21.5 | 3.0% | 24k | 68k | #24 |
| 31 |  Slovenia |
20.7 | 10.5% | 561 | 3.9k | #30 |
| 32 |  Luxembourg |
20.0 | 14.4% | 204 | 1.6k | #34 |
| 33 |  South Africa |
19.3 | 9.4% | 1.7k | 12k | #36 |
| 34 |  New Zealand |
18.6 | 10.1% | 624 | 4k | #31 |
| 35 |  Ireland |
17.9 | 9.5% | 841 | 5.5k | #32 |
| 36 |  Türkiye |
17.3 | 8.1% | 5k | 24k | #39 |
| 37 |  Greece |
16.6 | 8.7% | 1.9k | 12k | #37 |
| 38 |  Cyprus |
16.0 | 14.8% | 461 | 4.3k | #41 |
| 39 |  Saudi Arabia |
15.4 | 14.3% | 2.6k | 20k | #38 |
| 40 |  Argentina |
14.8 | 4.9% | 1.7k | 8.1k | #35 |
| 41 |  Iran |
14.3 | 7.5% | 4.9k | 27k | #40 |
| 42 |  Romania |
13.7 | 6.4% | 1.4k | 6.1k | #45 |
| 43 |  United Arab Emirates |
13.2 | 10.4% | 682 | 4.2k | #46 |
| 44 |  Croatia |
12.6 | 7.0% | 518 | 2.5k | #44 |
| 45 |  Bangladesh |
12.1 | 13.3% | 962 | 7.5k | #56 |
| 46 |  Mexico |
11.6 | 4.5% | 3.2k | 14k | #42 |
| 47 |  Estonia |
11.1 | 11.9% | 307 | 2.9k | #51 |
| 48 |  Pakistan |
10.6 | 14.1% | 2.7k | 23k | #49 |
| 49 |  Thailand |
10.1 | 6.9% | 959 | 4.4k | #50 |
| 50 |  Serbia |
9.7 | 4.3% | 752 | 2.5k | #54 |
| 51 |  Egypt |
9.2 | 11.5% | 2k | 14k | #58 |
| 52 |  Ukraine |
8.8 | 2.7% | 2.6k | 6.2k | #55 |
| 53 |  Colombia |
8.3 | 4.6% | 789 | 3.2k | #53 |
| 54 |  Georgia |
7.9 | 4.4% | 208 | 837 | #65 |
| 55 |  Slovakia |
7.5 | 4.9% | 872 | 3k | #48 |
| 56 |  Uzbekistan |
7.1 | 10.6% | 1.1k | 6.6k | #80 |
| 57 |  Bulgaria |
6.6 | 4.0% | 817 | 2.5k | #61 |
| 58 |  Ecuador |
6.2 | 5.4% | 200 | 854 | #63 |
| 59 |  Kazakhstan |
5.8 | 6.2% | 736 | 2.9k | #57 |
| 60 |  Lithuania |
5.5 | 6.3% | 359 | 1.5k | #59 |
| 61 |  Vietnam |
5.1 | 3.9% | 1k | 3.4k | #62 |
| 62 |  Malaysia |
4.7 | 6.6% | 1.1k | 4.9k | #71 |
| 63 |  Indonesia |
4.3 | 3.7% | 1.6k | 2.7k | #69 |
| 64 |  Armenia |
4.0 | 3.9% | 585 | 1.9k | #67 |
| 65 |  Philippines |
3.6 | 6.7% | 279 | 1.2k | #70 |
| 66 |  Morocco |
3.3 | 10.5% | 1.2k | 7.5k | #68 |
| 67 |  Azerbaijan |
2.9 | 11.0% | 524 | 2k | #83 |
| 68 |  Algeria |
2.6 | 6.2% | 1.2k | 4.2k | #75 |
| 69 |  Jordan |
2.2 | 13.6% | 369 | 2.6k | #88 |
| 70 |  Belarus |
1.9 | 2.1% | 504 | 816 | #76 |
| 71 |  Ethiopia |
1.6 | 4.4% | 280 | 818 | #77 |
| 72 |  Tunisia |
124.8 | 6.1% | 409 | 1.6k | #87 |
| 73 |  Cameroon |
93.0 | 5.8% | 408 | 2.4k | #93 |
| 74 |  Nigeria |
61.6 | 4.6% | 673 | 2.4k | #94 |
| 75 |  Iraq |
30.6 | 5.7% | 1.3k | 4.1k | #85 |
| 76 |  Tajikistan |
0.0 | 6.7% | 273 | 434 | #95 |
countries ranked worldwide in Physics and Astronomy (76). rank on the quality score within the stated pool. The score track runs 0 to 100; the rate track carries no average mark, because the average differs by field (about 6% in Dentistry, 21% in Economics).
How spread out this pool is
Every row above on one axis, one tick each. Right is a higher score. A field where the top few are far clear of everyone and one that runs down evenly look identical as a table.
One bar per band of score, counting the rows on this page.
Ranked by volume, 2022-now
- 1
China
117k works
- 2
United States
100k works
- 3
Germany
30k works
- 4
India
30k works
- 5
Russia
25k works
- 6
Japan
25k works
- 7
France
24k works
- 8
Italy
21k works
- 9
United Kingdom
20k works
- 10
Spain
12k works
- 11
Canada
8.8k works
- 12
South Korea
8.7k works
Questions people ask
Which country is best for a PhD in physics, judged by its research?
United States ranks first in 2022-now, followed by China and Germany, out of 76 ranked countries.
Also asked as
- Which countries lead physics research?