New Caledonia
East Asia & Pacific · High income· 293K inhabitants
Last updated: November 11, 2025
Note: This country is classified as a microstate (population under 300,000) and is indexed but not included in GEFRI global or regional rankings. Microstates are excluded from rankings because their unique population size, geographic scale, and special conditions can result in atypical data patterns that may not be directly comparable with larger countries. This helps ensure that rankings are more meaningful and fair for all measured countries.
Futures readiness profile
Key insights: New Caledonia
Key areas of strength for New Caledonia: School Access and Gender Parity (94, 94th percentile), Governance (78, 90th percentile), and Human Capital (62, 86th percentile). This reflects substantial capacity for education futures readiness and may serve as models for broader policy learning or international benchmarking.
Areas of untapped potential: Infrastructure (70, 66th percentile) and Innovation (49, 69th percentile). While these scores are at or near the global average, substantial progress and greater ambition are needed to drive transformation and strengthen the country’s future in education.
Composite GEFRI Score
70.50
82nd percentile
Higher scores indicate greater education futures readiness
Component scores
School Access and Gender Parity94.02
Above global avg. · 94th %-tile
Governance78.44
Above global avg. · 90th %-tile
Captures the effectiveness and quality of policies, regulations, and governance that shape the educational environment.
Innovation48.58
Near the global average · 69th %-tile
Reflects a country’s capacity to foster, produce, and apply new knowledge and technology in society and education.
Human Capital61.73
Above global avg. · 86th %-tile
Assesses the educational attainment and capacity of a country’s population, focusing on access and completion at secondary and tertiary levels as well as literacy.
Infrastructure69.70
Above global avg. · 66th %-tile
Measures the availability and quality of basic digital and electrical infrastructure that supports education.
Regional peers: East Asia & Pacific
| Global rank | Regional rank | Country | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | Korea, Rep. | 80.27 |
| 4 | 2 | Singapore | 79.39 |
| 5 | 3 | Hong Kong SAR, China | 79.21 |
| 7 | 4 | Japan | 78.26 |
| 9 | 5 | Australia | 77.71 |
| 17 | 6 | New Zealand | 74.85 |
| — | — | Northern Mariana Islands(microstate) | 71.25 |
| — | — | New Caledonia(microstate) | 70.50 |
| — | — | Guam(microstate) | 69.62 |
| — | — | American Samoa(microstate) | 69.08 |
| — | — | French Polynesia(microstate) | 68.68 |
| 44 | 7 | China | 63.63 |
| 49 | 8 | Brunei Darussalam | 61.74 |
| 50 | 9 | Thailand | 61.59 |
| 54 | 10 | Indonesia | 60.52 |
| — | — | Palau(microstate) | 59.99 |
| — | — | Nauru(microstate) | 59.98 |
| 61 | 11 | Macao SAR, China | 59.29 |
| 64 | 12 | Viet Nam | 58.46 |
| 72 | 13 | Malaysia | 56.52 |
| 73 | 14 | Mongolia | 56.49 |
| 74 | 15 | Fiji | 56.38 |
| — | — | Tuvalu(microstate) | 56.33 |
| — | — | Kiribati(microstate) | 53.22 |
| 86 | 16 | Philippines | 52.65 |
| — | — | Samoa(microstate) | 50.71 |
| — | — | Tonga(microstate) | 48.79 |
| 105 | 17 | Timor-Leste | 47.65 |
| — | — | Marshall Islands(microstate) | 45.83 |
| 115 | 18 | Korea, Dem. People's Rep. | 43.16 |
| — | — | Micronesia, Fed. Sts.(microstate) | 42.86 |
| 118 | 19 | Vanuatu | 40.73 |
| 128 | 20 | Cambodia | 35.01 |
| 129 | 21 | Myanmar | 34.36 |
| 134 | 22 | Solomon Islands | 32.62 |
| 139 | 23 | Lao PDR | 30.68 |
| 147 | 24 | Papua New Guinea | 27.30 |