Average GMAT Scores of MBA and Masters Applicants By Country

Question

Average GMAT Scores by Country

I was able to dig out some interesting information from GMAC's annual test report. This list is specifically for the GMAT Scores that were sent to MBA and Masters programs. This is not just average score by country but rather scores that were actually sent to MBA Programs and Masters (excludes PhD programs). This also means the scores that were not sent (e.g. someone took the test and got a low score and then retested) are not figured/calculated in this list. This list gives us a somewhat real picture about what on average gets shared by citizens of each country (this is citizenship-based report, regardless of test-taking location) and how MBA compares vs. Master's programs. Also, we all know that some demographics are more competitive than others and this gives you a clue how you stack up vs. your peers. You may also be interested in the  Average GMAT Scores in the Top 100 MBA programs .

What's interesting is that India where people seem to need score so high for the Top MBA programs is nowhere close to the top of this ranking. And look at New Zealand and Australia how competitive those scores!

Average GMAT Scores by Country 
   #    Country    Number of Tests 
taken in 2020     Average GMAT for
MBA Applicants      Average GMAT for
Masters Applicants       1  Singapore  870    675      651       2  New Zealand  147    674      680       3  Spain  1004    668      606       4  Australia  568    666      642       5  Turkey  594    666      604       6  United Kingdom  1266    665      640       7  China  50686    664      658       8  Chile  534    662      638       9  Belgium  427    660      632       10  South Korea  2917    658      619       11  Bulgaria  122    655      632       12  Romania  135    655      613       13  Argentina  363    654      637       14  Norway  216    653      592       15  Brazil  1618    653      581       16  Netherlands  1197    652      548       17  Switzerland  417    652      629       18  Austria  318    647      628       19  France  2347    644      618       20  Greece  521    642      617       21  Taiwan, China  3920    641      629       22  Italy  2455    638      614       23  Russia  1086    638      605       24  Germany  3226    637      631       25  Poland  295    636      642       26  Canada  4104    633      625       27  India  26129    630      599       28  Portugal  513    629      618       29  Japan  1765    625      584       30  Vietnam  1178    625      602       31  Azerbaijan  123    622      616       32  United States  45648    621      547       33  Peru  622    619      562       34  Malaysia  316    618      591       35  Kazakhstan  234    615      587       36  Lebanon  715    613      600       37  Philippines  342    613      535       38  Venezuela  115    612      519       39  Ireland  147    606      638       40  Morocco  203    605      546       41  Pakistan  685    600      575       42  Ukraine  247    599      562       43  Hungary  150    598      633       44  Mexico  1206    591      525       45  Indonesia  741    590      582       46  Colombia  538    589      547       47  Sweden  723    589      488       48  Thailand  1407    585      569       49  Iran  208    576      565       50  Bangladesh  247    567      553       51  Finland  204    557      515       52  Zimbabwe  101    553      459       53  Egypt  303    544      485       54  Nepal  292    541      530       55  Ghana  237    535      414       56  Israel  755    535      623       57  Nigeria  859    531      442       58  South Africa  494    526      543       59  Kenya  217    516      464       60  Albania  102    503      508       61  Saudi Arabia  537    397      379       62  Kuwait  507    386      395

Test Year 2020 is defined by GMAC as Jul 1, 2019 - June 30, 2020 (this is the latest data available as published in Feb 2021)
Source:  GMAC

kntombat · Answer

bb , wow this post is really informative and helpful.
Thank you for taking out time from your busy schedule and collating this information.
I bet it will be really helpful to a lot of members here.

bb · Answer

I hope so. It is kind of interesting. Another interesting aspect I spotted is that there were more GMAT's taken in China than any other country in the world

though China is an interesting country/market. Most of it is taken for the Masters programs and over 65% of test-takers are women (a very non-traditional view of GMAT)

MBAWannaBe13 · Answer

Hi  bb

I can vouch for that. I am working in a SEA E-commerce company as a PM, and I work a lot with other PMs and developers in our tech centre in China.

The competition there is crazy (I guess like India to an extent), and often than not, most "fresh graduates"/ associates in the business role in many companies took Masters because of this competition.

Also, with the rise of Internet industry in the past 10-15 years, this fuels the need to have master's degree even more.

What I find more interesting is how much effort they need to put to learn english and GMAT, because picking up English as a Chinese is super difficult (at least based on what my colleagues told me). So yeah, that's China for you.

If anybody else can add on to this, that would be super interesting to see!

Posted from my mobile device

bb · Answer

Thank you!!! That is interesting. Where do people mostly get masters? Is that within China or abroad?

MBAWannaBe13 · Answer

Well,

I guess there is no general trend, as I do see diverse education backgrounds. But at the very least, some of the global tech companies do prefer those with overseas master degree.
That includes mine (it's a rising e-commerce company in SEA, that just entered Latin America quite recently), so they appreciate international exposure.

My colleagues in China graduated from Switzerland, Paris, Imperial London, and some other overseas Master's program.
However, they did mention to me that, statistically speaking, it is much harder to get into local master program (due to the competition) as compared to overseas master program.

If we have any Chinese member in this forum, I hope he/she can help to add-on as well! It would be super interesting to discuss about this!

KalyanChamarthi · Answer

Awesome report  bb

Historically, the USA had more GMAT Test Takers though it steadily declined between 2015 and 2019. In fact in 2019, according to GMAC, around 82k test-takers took GMAT in the US. I guess, the Pandemic would have got the numbers further down in the USA. While China test takers were consistent during the same time period and in 2020.
 GMAT Report

mSKR · Answer

i am surprised by Indian average Gmat score. I thought it would be among the toppers.

bb · Answer

Same here. Especially because these are the scores that people have sent to schools, rather than what people may have received (eg bad test day, etc)

Posted from my mobile device

AliciaSierra · Answer

Very interesting numbers. Test prep companies can use these figures to target marketing

. It will be good to see two year comparison. 2018 -2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 -Average GMAT Scores by Country. Such comparison will give us some idea of effect of Pandemic on GMAT test takers.

bb · Answer

Good thinking. I do have historical data going back all the way to 2016 in the same spreadsheet and happy to post it. It’s pretty glacial in terms of changes. I haven’t seen much of a change or jump in scores.

Also, this is for the year ending June 30, 2020 so it doesn’t take the entire pandemic into consideration unfortunately.

Posted from my mobile device

AliciaSierra · Answer

I believe few of below factors impacted GMAT scores and number of GMAT Test Takers so we should see some change in trend.

1. Huge layoffs in USA in 2020
2. Work from Home -2020 to 2021
3. Almost zero social life in 2020
4. Online GMAT

At least factor-2 & 3 were advantage to me.

linuschoudhury · Answer

So GMAC has published only averages, a country wise percentile/bell-curve distribution data would have been really helpful.
Is there any such data?

hellothere88 · Answer

is there any way to check our score based on country specific percentile?

bb · Answer

I have never seen that published. I don't think GMAC does that kind of research/rating.

hellothere88 · Answer

Taiwan is put under China, at least it has 'China' in it, I am wondering whether Taiwanese are put in the same bucket with mainland Chinese?in terms of overall application

houston1980 · Answer

bb
MBAWannaBe13
mSKR
hellothere88
AliciaSierra

The data from year 2021 shows that India has one of the highest percentage of GMAT exam takers scoring at and above 700 in countries with at least 1000 exam takers.
The data in the link shows that many Indian candidates send their GMAT scores to universities in India.
Candidates from other countries other than India may decide not to apply or send their scores to MBA schools if they did not do well.
The percentage of test takers in India scoring at and above 700 in 2021 is about 21.1% while the same percentage for China is about 16.7%

The data shows that India exam takers in terms of percentage for countries with sizable exam takers are among the toppers (scoring at and above 700) in the GMAT exam.

I double checked the data. The percentage of candidates in year 2021 that scored at and above 700 in GMAT in countries with at least 1000 exam takers is highest in Brazil. United States is next. India is next.

Brazil 23.1% of exam takers scored at and above 700
United States 22.5% of exam takers scored at and above 700
India 21.1% of exam takers scored at and above 700
My source is from GMAT Official website.
GMAT Geographic Trend Report Testing Year 2021
https://www.gmac.com/-/media/files/gmac ... r-2021.pdf

bb · Answer

Thanks for sharing! I have not looked deeper into each of the country profiles, so this is a pretty interesting find!!! Attaching a screenshot just in case India.jpg

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Average GMAT Scores of MBA and Masters Applicants By Country

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#	Country	Number of Tests taken in 2020	Average GMAT for MBA Applicants	Average GMAT for Masters Applicants
Average GMAT Scores by Country
1	Singapore	870	675	651
2	New Zealand	147	674	680
3	Spain	1004	668	606
4	Australia	568	666	642
5	Turkey	594	666	604
6	United Kingdom	1266	665	640
7	China	50686	664	658
8	Chile	534	662	638
9	Belgium	427	660	632
10	South Korea	2917	658	619
11	Bulgaria	122	655	632
12	Romania	135	655	613
13	Argentina	363	654	637
14	Norway	216	653	592
15	Brazil	1618	653	581
16	Netherlands	1197	652	548
17	Switzerland	417	652	629
18	Austria	318	647	628
19	France	2347	644	618
20	Greece	521	642	617
21	Taiwan, China	3920	641	629
22	Italy	2455	638	614
23	Russia	1086	638	605
24	Germany	3226	637	631
25	Poland	295	636	642
26	Canada	4104	633	625
27	India	26129	630	599
28	Portugal	513	629	618
29	Japan	1765	625	584
30	Vietnam	1178	625	602
31	Azerbaijan	123	622	616
32	United States	45648	621	547
33	Peru	622	619	562
34	Malaysia	316	618	591
35	Kazakhstan	234	615	587
36	Lebanon	715	613	600
37	Philippines	342	613	535
38	Venezuela	115	612	519
39	Ireland	147	606	638
40	Morocco	203	605	546
41	Pakistan	685	600	575
42	Ukraine	247	599	562
43	Hungary	150	598	633
44	Mexico	1206	591	525
45	Indonesia	741	590	582
46	Colombia	538	589	547
47	Sweden	723	589	488
48	Thailand	1407	585	569
49	Iran	208	576	565
50	Bangladesh	247	567	553
51	Finland	204	557	515
52	Zimbabwe	101	553	459
53	Egypt	303	544	485
54	Nepal	292	541	530
55	Ghana	237	535	414
56	Israel	755	535	623
57	Nigeria	859	531	442
58	South Africa	494	526	543
59	Kenya	217	516	464
60	Albania	102	503	508
61	Saudi Arabia	537	397	379
62	Kuwait	507	386	395