List of countries by Nobel laureates per capita

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This article contains a list of countries by Nobel laureates per capita. That is, a list of countries ranked by their Nobel Prize winners in relation to their population. Because the population of a country is significantly higher than its Nobel laureates, the figures have been multiplied by 10 million. Thus, the number on the rightmost column should be read as the number of Nobel laureates of a country for every 10 million of its population.

The figures include all Nobel Prizes awarded up to and including 13 October 2016.

Note: Non-sovereign entities and microstates are marked in italics.

All prizes[edit]

All five prizes (Chemistry, Literature, Peace, Physics, and Physiology or Medicine) and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences are considered.

Rank Country Nobel
laureates[1]		 Population
(2015)[2]		 Laureates/
10 million
—  Faroe Islands 1 48,199 207.473
—  Saint Lucia 2 184,999 108.109
—  Luxembourg 2 567,110 35.267
1  Sweden 31 9,779,426 31.700
2   Switzerland 26 8,298,663 31.332
3  Iceland 1 329,425 30.356
4  Norway 13 5,210,967 24.947
5  Denmark 14 5,669,081 24.695
6  Austria 21 8,544,586 24.577
7  United Kingdom 125 64,715,810 19.315
8  Ireland 8 4,715,921 16.970
9  East Timor 2 1,184,765 16.881
10  Israel 12 8,064,036 14.881
11  Germany 106 80,688,545 13.137
12  Netherlands 20 16,924,929 11.817
13  United States 364 321,773,631 11.312
14  France 68 64,395,345 10.559
—  European Union[3] 474 505,150,401 9.383
15  Hungary 15[4] 9,855,023 15.220
16  Finland 5 5,503,457 9.085
17  Belgium 10 11,299,192 8.850
18  Cyprus 1 1,165,300 8.581
19  Trinidad and Tobago 1 1,360,088 7.352
20  Canada 25 35,939,927 6.956
21  New Zealand 3 4,528,526 6.625
22  Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 3,810,416 5.249
23  Latvia 1 1,970,503 5.075
24  Australia 12 23,968,973 5.006
25  Slovenia 1 2,067,526 4.837
26  Macedonia 1 2,078,453 4.811
27  Czech Republic 5 10,543,186 4.742
28  Liberia 2 4,503,438 4.441
29  Portugal 4 10,349,803 3.865
30  Lithuania 1 2,878,405 3.474
31  Italy 20 59,797,685 3.345
—  Tibet[5] 1 3,195,085 3.130
32  Poland 12 38,611,794 3.108
33  Croatia 1 4,240,317 2.358
—  Palestine 1 4,668,466 2.142
34  Belarus 2 9,495,826 2.106
35  Costa Rica 1 4,807,850 2.080
36  Romania 4 19,511,324 2.050
37  Japan 25 126,573,481 1.975
38  Russia 27 146,408,460 1.844
39  South Africa 10 54,490,406 1.835
40  Greece 2 10,954,617 1.826
41  Spain 8 46,121,699 1.735
42  Bulgaria 1 7,149,787 1.399
43  Hong Kong 1 7,287,983 1.372
44  Guatemala 2 16,342,897 1.224
—  World[6] 885 7,349,472,099 1.204
45  Argentina 5 43,416,755 1.152
46  Chile 2 17,948,141 1.114
47  Azerbaijan 1 9,753,968 1.025
48  Algeria 2 39,666,519 0.504
49  Ukraine 2 44,823,765 0.446
50  Egypt 4 91,508,084 0.437
51  Taiwan 1 23,381,038 0.428
52  Colombia 2 48,228,704 0.415
53  Yemen 1 26,832,215 0.373
54  Ghana 1 27,409,893 0.365
55  Venezuela 1 31,108,083 0.321
56  Peru 1 31,376,670 0.319
57  Morocco 1 34,377,511 0.291
58  Turkey 2 78,665,830 0.254
59  Iran 2 79,109,272 0.253
60  Mexico 3 127,017,224 0.236
61  Kenya 1 46,050,302 0.217
62  Korea, South 1 50,293,439 0.199
63  Myanmar 1 53,897,154 0.186
64  Vietnam 1 93,447,601 0.107
65  Pakistan 2 188,924,874 0.106
66  China 12 1,376,048,943 0.087
67  India 10 1,311,050,527 0.076
68  Bangladesh 1 160,995,642 0.062
69  Nigeria 1 182,201,962 0.055
70  Brazil 1 207,847,528 0.048

Scientific prizes[edit]

Only the awards for Chemistry, Physics, Physiology or Medicine, and the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences are considered.

Rank Country Nobel
laureates[1]		 Population
(2015)[2]		 Laureates/
10 million
—  Faroe Islands 1 48,199 207.473
1  Saint Lucia 1 184,999 54.054
2  Luxembourg 2 567,110 35.267
3   Switzerland 20 8,298,663 24.100
4  Austria 20 8,544,586 21.066
5  Sweden 16 9,779,426 16.361
6  Denmark 9 5,669,081 15.792
7  United Kingdom 101 64,715,810 15.607
8  Germany 89 80,688,545 11.030
9  Netherlands 19 16,924,929 10.044
10  Israel 8 8,064,036 9.920
11  Norway 5 5,210,967 9.596
12  United States 328 321,773,631 10.194
13 (8-6)  Hungary 13[7]-16[8] 9,855,023 13,2
—  European Union[9] 346 505,150,401 6.849
14  New Zealand 3 4,528,526 6.625
15  France 37 64,395,345 5.745
16  Finland 3 5,503,457 5.451
17  Belgium 6 11,299,192 5.310
18  Latvia 1 1,970,503 5.075
19  Canada 18 35,939,927 5.008
20  Slovenia 1 2,067,526 4.837
21  Ireland 2 4,715,921 4.241
22  Australia 10 23,968,973 4.172
23  Lithuania 1 2,878,405 3.474
24  Czech Republic 3 10,543,186 2.845
25  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1 3,810,416 2.624
26  Croatia 1 4,240,317 2.358
27  Italy 13 59,797,685 2.174
28  Japan 22 126,573,481 1.738
29  Hong Kong 1 7,287,983 1.372
30  Poland 5 38,611,794 1.295
31  Russia 17 146,408,460 1.161
32  Belarus 1 9,495,826 1.053
33  Azerbaijan 1 9,753,968 1.025
34  Romania 2 19,511,324 1.025
35  Portugal 1 10,349,803 0.966
—  World[6] 671 7,349,472,099 0.913
36  South Africa 4 54,490,406 0.734
37  Argentina 3 43,416,755 0.691
38  Spain 2 46,121,699 0.434
39  Taiwan 1 23,381,038 0.428
40  Venezuela 1 31,108,083 0.321
41  Morocco 1 34,377,511 0.291
42  Algeria 1 39,666,519 0.252
43  Ukraine 1 44,823,765 0.223
44  Turkey 1 78,665,830 0.127
45  Egypt 1 91,508,084 0.109
46  Mexico 1 127,017,224 0.079
47  China 8 1,376,048,943 0.058
48  Pakistan 1 188,924,874 0.053
49  Brazil 1 207,847,528 0.048
50  India 6 1,311,050,527 0.046

Inclusion criteria[edit]

The list of Nobel laureates by country was compiled by BBC News using the following criteria:[1]

  • Prizes are allocated to the country/countries stated on the winner's biography on the website of the Nobel Prize committee (www.nobelprize.org).
  • Where the website mentions multiple countries in relation to a prize winner (country of birth; country of citizenship; country of residence at time of award) each of those countries is credited as having won the prize.
  • Where a prize has multiple winners, the country (or countries) of each winner are credited.
  • Prizes which were declined by the winner are included.
  • Prizes won by organisations are not allocated to countries.
  • Winners from Belarus and Ukraine are not credited to Russia. Winners born in what was then Poland but is now Ukraine are credited to Poland.

Note: The BBC News figures included all Nobel Prizes awarded up to and including 8 October 2010. Nobel prizes announced after that date were added generally following the same criteria outlined above (see Updates section below for details).

Corrections[edit]

This is a list of corrections made to the original figures provided by BBC News:

  • No award was attributed to Luxembourg, but, according to the Nobel Prize website, Gabriel Lippmann (Physics, 1908) was born in that country.[10]
  • No award was attributed to Azerbaijan, but, according to the Nobel Prize website, Lev Landau (Physics, 1962) was born in the area that is now held by that country (then part of the Russian Empire).[11] The justification for this correction is that BBC News did credit Latvia for Wilhelm Ostwald's 1909 Chemistry Prize, even though his birthplace—Latvia's capital Riga—was by the time he was born (1853) also part of the Russian Empire.
  • Australia was credited with only one Nobel laureate in Physics, but up to and including 8 October 2010 there were two Physics laureates associated with that country: William Lawrence Bragg (1915) and Aleksandr Prokhorov (1964), both of whom were born there according to the Nobel Prize website.[12][13]

Updates[edit]

This section details how Nobel Prizes announced after 8 October 2010 were added.

  • 2010 update:
    • Economic Sciences: 2 to the United States and 1 each to Cyprus, Denmark and the United Kingdom.
  • 2011 update:
    • Chemistry: 1 to Israel.
    • Literature: 1 to Sweden.
    • Peace: 2 to Liberia and 1 to Yemen.
    • Physics: 3 to the United States and 1 to Australia.
    • Physiology or Medicine: 2 to the United States and 1 each to Canada, France and Luxembourg.
    • Economic Sciences: 2 to the United States.
  • 2012 update:
    • Physiology or Medicine: 1 each to Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
    • Physics: 1 each to France, Morocco and the United States.
    • Chemistry: 2 to the United States.
    • Literature: 1 to China.
    • Peace: Not applicable.
    • Economic Sciences: 2 to the United States.
  • 2013 update:
    • Physiology or Medicine: 2 to the United States and 1 to Germany.
    • Physics: 1 each to Belgium and the United Kingdom.
    • Chemistry: 3 to the United States, 2 to Israel, and 1 each to Austria, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
    • Literature: 1 to Canada.
    • Peace: Not applicable.
    • Economic Sciences: 3 to the United States.
  • 2014 update:
    • Physiology or Medicine: 2 to Norway and 1 each to the United Kingdom and the United States.
    • Physics: 3 to Japan and 1 to the United States.
    • Chemistry: 2 to the United States and 1 each to Germany and Romania.
    • Literature: 1 to France.
    • Peace: 1 each to India, Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
    • Economic Sciences: 1 to France.
  • 2015 update:
    • Physiology or Medicine: 1 each to China, Ireland, Japan and the United States.
    • Physics: 1 each to Canada and Japan.
    • Chemistry: 2 to the United States and 1 each to Sweden, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
    • Literature: 1 each to Belarus and Ukraine.
    • Peace: Not applicable.
    • Economic Sciences: 1 each to the United Kingdom and the United States.
  • 2016 update:
    • Physiology or Medicine: 1 to Japan.
    • Physics: 3 each to the United Kingdom and the United States.
    • Chemistry: 1 each to France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
    • Peace: 1 to Colombia.
    • Economic Sciences: 2 to the United States and 1 each to Finland and the United Kingdom.
    • Literature: 1 to the United States.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Which country has the best brains?". BBC News. 2010-10-10. Retrieved 2010-10-10. 
  2. ^ a b "Total Population - Both Sexes". World Population Prospects, the 2015 Revision. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, Population Estimates and Projections Section. 29 July 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015. 
  3. ^ Includes every credit given separately to each of the 28 EU member states. It does not include the Peace Prize given to the EU in 2012.
  4. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country
  5. ^ A population estimate for 2015 was calculated using the average annual population growth in the Tibet Autonomous Region between the 2000 and 2010 censuses. 2000 census population: 2,616,329 (Source: National Bureau of Statistics of China). 2010 census population: 3,002,166 (Source: Xinhua News Agency). Formula used: 3002166+(2015-2010)*(3002166-2616329)/(2010-2000)=3195084.5.
  6. ^ a b In this case each Nobel laureate was only counted once, Source: "Nobel Prize Facts". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2014-10-09. 
  7. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_laureates_by_country
  8. ^ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Hungarian_Nobel_laureates
  9. ^ Includes every credit given separately to each of the 28 EU member states.
  10. ^ "Gabriel Lippmann – Biography". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2011-10-11. 
  11. ^ "Lev Landau – Biography". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2012-06-19. 
  12. ^ "Lawrence Bragg – Biography". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2012-08-16. 
  13. ^ "Aleksandr M. Prokhorov – Biography". Nobel Foundation. Retrieved 2012-08-16. 

Further reading[edit]

  • Emeka Nwabunnia, Bishop Emeka Ebisi (2007), The Nobel prize (1901-2000): handbook of landmark records, University Press of America, ISBN 978-0-7618-3573-8 

External links[edit]

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