TL;DR
- 2,304 rows: 23 editions (2003–2025) × ranks 1–100, 23 countries and regions. Columns: year, world rank, institution, country. A tie at the bottom of the list gives 101 rows in 2003, 2006, 2007, 2011.
- United States: 58 seats in 2003, 51 in 2004, 55 in 2009, 37 in 2025 – 21 seats fewer than in 2003, 18 of them lost after 2009.
- China (mainland): zero seats through 2015, then Tsinghua University (#58) and Peking University (#71) in 2016, and 13 in 2025: 2 → 2 → 3 → 4 → 6 → 7 → 8 → 10 → 13 → 13. Tsinghua is #18 in 2025. Hong Kong SAR is counted separately: 1 seat in 2022, 2 in 2025.
- Europe mostly held. United Kingdom 9 → 11 (2004–2010) → 8 from 2014, with single-year blips to 9. Germany 5 in 2003 and 4 in 2025 (peak 7 in 2004). Switzerland 3 from 2003 to 2010, 5 in 2025. France 2 → 4.
- Flagships: Cambridge #2–5 in every edition; Tokyo #19 → #31; Paris-Saclay entered at #14 in 2020 where Paris-Sud had been #37 in 2019; Moscow State left the top 100 after 2021.
Download
ARWU_top100_raw_2003_2025.csv – 2,304 rows, UTF-8, columns year, world_rank, institution, country.
ARWU_Top100_by_Country_2003_2025.xlsx – the same data pivoted by country and year.
Universities in the ARWU top 100, by country and year
| Country | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 58 | 51 | 53 | 54 | 54 | 54 | 55 | 54 | 53 | 53 | 52 | 52 | 51 | 50 | 48 | 46 | 45 | 41 | 40 | 39 | 38 | 38 | 37 |
| China (mainland) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 13 | 13 |
| United Kingdom | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| Switzerland | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 |
| Australia | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 |
| Germany | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| France | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Canada | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Sweden | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| Israel | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Japan | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Netherlands | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Belgium | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Denmark | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Hong Kong SAR | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Singapore | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Finland | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Norway | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| South Korea | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Austria | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Italy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Russia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | 101 | 100 | 100 | 101 | 101 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 101 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Table 1. Number of universities in ranks 1–100, by country or region as ARWU lists it, every edition 2003–2025. Sorted by the 2025 count. The Total row is 101 where a tie at the bottom of the list adds one university. Scroll sideways for all years.
Best-ranked university per country, 2003 and 2025
| Country | Best-ranked university, 2003 | Rank | Best-ranked university, 2025 | Rank | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | Harvard University | #1 | Harvard University | #1 | = |
| China (mainland) | not in top 100 | – | Tsinghua University | #18 | entered |
| United Kingdom | University of Cambridge | #5 | University of Cambridge | #4 | ▲ 1 |
| Switzerland | Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich | #25 | ETH Zurich | #22 | ▲ 3 |
| Australia | The Australian National University | #49 | The University of Melbourne | #38 | ▲ 11 |
| Germany | University of Munich | #48 | University of Munich | #42 | ▲ 6 |
| France | Pierre and Marie Curie University - Paris 6 | #65 | Paris-Saclay University | #13 | ▲ 52 |
| Canada | University of Toronto | #23 | University of Toronto | #25 | ▼ 2 |
| Sweden | Karolinska Institute | #39 | Karolinska Institute | #50 | ▼ 11 |
| Israel | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem | #94 | Weizmann Institute of Science | #71 | ▲ 23 |
| Japan | The University of Tokyo | #19 | The University of Tokyo | #31 | ▼ 12 |
| Netherlands | Utrecht University | #40 | Utrecht University | #56 | ▼ 16 |
| Belgium | Ghent University | #99 | KU Leuven | #76 | ▲ 23 |
| Denmark | University of Copenhagen | #65 | University of Copenhagen | #35 | ▲ 30 |
| Hong Kong SAR | not in top 100 | – | The University of Hong Kong | #67 | entered |
| Singapore | not in top 100 | – | National University of Singapore | #56 | entered |
| Finland | University of Helsinki | #74 | University of Helsinki | #94 | ▼ 20 |
| Norway | University of Oslo | #63 | University of Oslo | #83 | ▼ 20 |
| South Korea | not in top 100 | – | Seoul National University | #81 | entered |
| Austria | University of Vienna | #84 | not in top 100 | – | left |
| Italy | University of Roma - La Sapienza | #70 | not in top 100 | – | left |
Table 2. The highest-ranked university of each country in the first and the latest edition. Change is in rank places (▲ = climbed). Countries that entered or left the top 100 between the two editions are marked.
An interactive version of both views – seat counts and flagship rank per country, year by year – is in the ARWU Country Dynamics chart.
Method and caveats
- Source. The published ARWU lists at shanghairanking.com, ranks 1–100, one list per edition, 2003 to 2025. Every rank was read from the published list; nothing is estimated. Scores, indicator values and ranks below 100 are not included.
- Country is ARWU's own label. Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR are separate rows, as ARWU reports them. Institution names are as listed in that edition, so a renamed or merged university (Paris-Saclay from 2020) appears under the name of the year.
- Ties. In four editions a tie at the bottom of the list puts 101 universities in ranks 1–100: 2003 (three share #99), 2006 (two share #100), 2007 (three share #99), 2011 (two share #100). Counts on this page include all of them.
- 2003 → 2004. The first two editions show unusually large swings for several countries at once (United States −7, France +2, Germany +2, United Kingdom +2). This is most likely the methodology settling in its first full year rather than real-world movement; trend statements should lean on the full series, not on 2003 alone.
- What ARWU counts. Research output credited to universities, not to national research systems. France's CNRS and Germany's Max Planck and Fraunhofer institutes are not universities, so both countries' counts understate their national research base.
- Reuse. The underlying ranking is published by ShanghaiRanking Consultancy. This compilation – the cleaned table, the country counts and the flagship series – may be reused with attribution (CC BY 4.0).
Other datasets in this series
STEM programme coverage, ARWU top 100
1,258 university × programme pairs, 31 canonical programmes, 13 clusters – Computer Science at 95 of 100, standalone AI at 12.
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What 31 STEM degrees ask for at A-level – Mathematics named by 22 of the 23 taught in the UK, every row read off a live admissions page.
Used in this series
What the World Actually Offers (Article 3)
The China question, the France cluster and the country comparisons that quote these counts.
How I Built It (Article 2)
Why ARWU over QS and THE, and why the cut is at 100.
The Long Bet – series hub
The Top 100 Is a Moving Target, still to come, will read this table year by year.
Cite this
Atamanova, M. (2026). ARWU top 100 by country, 2003–2025 [Data set]. mariascales.com. https://mariascales.com/research/long-bet/data/