Is now ready for 2018.

As I wrote last year:

The Weighted Fraction Count (WFC) of the Nature Index is is probably the single best proxy for quality-adjusted scientific output in the world today. You can read about the methodology here. The first publicly accessible Nature Index dates to 2013, and covers the year 2012.

The data for this year is attached below.

Main observations:

1. As I wrote in The Geography of the Noosphere, China continues gaining ground on the rest of the world. It now produces 56% as much elite level science as the United States.

I would also note that as of 2018, China has basically converged with the US in publication of citable documents (569,000 vs. 570,000), though these numbers don’t take quality into account.

2. All other major trends remain unchanged:

Relative decline of the European Med and developed East Asia.

In particular, even as China has doubled its share of world scientific output since 2012 from 9% to 18%, Taiwan’s share has halved from 1.2% to 0.6%. As of this year, Russia has overtaken it.

Relative stagnation in most of the rest of the world.

3. Vietnam has made the Top 50 for the first time ever, improving its relative position by over 50% (if from a very modest base). I expect to see very strong growth there henceforth, since Vietnamese IQ appears to be similar to that of the East Asian ethnoses.

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Data for 2018: