country profile

Nauru

East Asia & PacificHigh income12K population

Last updated October 1, 2026

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Microstate notice: This country is classified as a microstate (population under 300,000) and is indexed but not included in GEFRI global or regional rankings.
Progressing readiness

Composite GEFRI Score

Access & Parity is a strength, but Governance lags

Nauru shows progressing readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (73rd percentile worldwide). Reforms are translating into broader capability, though uneven performance continues to slow system-wide alignment.

72.29Composite score
Global percentile
73rd
Global rank
Not ranked (microstate)
Regional rank
Not ranked (microstate)
Viewing data for
Progressing readiness
Infrastructure
72.53
44th percentileGlobal avg. 70.44
Advanced readiness
Human Capital
83.60
81st percentileGlobal avg. 66.18
Progressing readiness
Innovation
62.44
76th percentileGlobal avg. 48.64
Emerging readiness
Governance
53.05
66th percentileGlobal avg. 47.24
Advanced readiness
Access & Parity
89.84
69th percentileGlobal avg. 60.85

Country profile

Nauru shows progressing readiness, with important strengths but continued gaps across the system. Most dimension scores sit close to global norms, without a single dimension standing far above the rest.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Strong tertiary enrollment expands future talent pipelines and strengthens national innovation potential.

Strong R&D funding and a sizable research workforce keep the innovation pipeline active, supporting the system’s capacity to adapt. Regulatory quality falls short of global standards, signalling structural hurdles in policy execution. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.

Some indicators are imputed, so the profile should be read with moderate caution.

Key insights

Sits above the global median at the 73rd percentile.

Scores range from Access & Parity (89.8) to Governance (53.0), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Leads regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: East Asia & Pacific

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
61Korea, Rep.87.81
82Australia87.35
93Singapore87.32
124Japan86.36
145New Zealand86.16
176Hong Kong SAR, China84.76
——PalauMicrostate73.70
——NauruMicrostate72.29
497Thailand71.84
528Brunei Darussalam71.04
——GuamMicrostate70.25
589China69.90
——American SamoaMicrostate69.54
6210Malaysia69.47
——Northern Mariana IslandsMicrostate69.09
6411Mongolia68.89
——New CaledoniaMicrostate68.87
6712Fiji68.59
6913Macao SAR, China68.46
——French PolynesiaMicrostate67.52
7414Viet Nam67.48
7515Indonesia67.40
——TongaMicrostate61.97
——SamoaMicrostate61.50
8916Philippines61.14
——TuvaluFCSMicrostate59.55
——Marshall IslandsFCSMicrostate55.97
10917Vanuatu54.91
——KiribatiFCSMicrostate50.18
11718Timor-LesteFCS48.26
——Micronesia, Fed. Sts.FCSMicrostate47.16
12419Cambodia44.55
12520Korea, Dem. People's Rep.44.05
13521Solomon IslandsFCS40.74
14222MyanmarFCS37.12
14323Lao PDR36.74
15624Papua New GuineaFCS32.24