Intelligence Quotient of Iranian

Intelligence is defined as the capacity for abstraction, logic, understanding, self-awareness, learning, emotional knowledge, reasoning, planning, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. According to recent studies, the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) of 31 countries of the world, has increased during the 20th century. The aim of this study is evaluation of the IQ of Iranians and also a brief review of research conducted on IQ.

We searched all relevant articles published from 1950 to 2021 in databases.

According to a 2021 study at Ulster Institute, the highest average IQ scores in the world belong to the Japanese, with the citizens of Taiwan and Singapore close behind.  The average IQ of Iranian population is 84 and the ranking of Iran is 119 among 199 countries in the world. The ranking of Iran has been reported from 23 to 110 in various websites. A meta-analysis of 52 studies conducted in Iran in 2019, reported that the mean Iranian IQ is 97.12, being 97.73 in ages less than 20 years old, and 105.61 in the population older than 20 years old. The IQ of Iranian school children was 89 before iodine supplementation in 1989 which reached 97, ten years after iodine supplementation.

We need a national study with appropriate methodology to measure Iranian IQ, but with the average IQ of 97 in juvenile Iranians, the ranking of Iran is 31. However, with respect to an average IQ of 106 in the population older than 20 years, the ranking of Iran is 3 among 199 countries in the world.