THE World University Rankings 2023 Released

• UK’s University of Oxford (1st) retains the top spot for the seventh consecutive year.
• A record number of 1,799 universities from 104 countries and regions are ranked, 137 more than last year.
• The US continues to dominate with 177 universities ranked overall, including seven in the world top ten, and 12 in the top 20, but its supremacy is being challenged by Asia as the number of US universities represented in the top 100 continues to fall, from 43 in 2018, to 34 this year.  Harvard University retains its position as the US’s top ranked university in 2nd place.
• China has an unprecedented seven universities in the world top 100 - up from six last year and just two top 100 universities only five years ago, in the 2018 edition. Tsinghua University becomes the best-performing Chinese institution (16^th overall).
• Japan leads the Asian countries with a total of 117 universities ranked, followed by China with 95 and India with 75. University of Tokyo remains Japan’s top ranked university in 39th place. 
• In Europe, outside the UK, Switzerland’s ETH Zurich University is the highest ranked institution (joint 11^th, up from 15^th place).
• Germany achieves unprecedented global success with nine universities in the top 100 and 22 in the top 200.
• Asia is the most represented continent with 669 universities participating, jointly with Europe (639, up 50 from 589 last year).  
• Singapore’s National University of Singapore moves up to 19^th position in the world top 20, while the country’s other ranked university, Nanyang Technological University (NTU) (36^th) also rises.
• In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, nations are thriving, led by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
• Africa has seen participation increase by 36.6% YoY with rankings increasing from 71 to 97 institutions – this is the biggest increase of all continents.   Five new African countries appear in the Rankings for the first time: Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.  The highest-ranking university in Africa is University of Cape Town at rank 160.
• Oceania’s average score for the region as a whole overtakes the average score of North America for the first time.
• Australia has ten universities in the top 200 with the University of Melbourne being the country’s best performing institution, ranked 34^th overall (down one place from 33^rd).
• The Latin America and Caribbean region sees a record 140 universities from 12 countries ranked.  Brazil, Mexico and Colombia all have a high number of new entrants, with five newly ranked universities for Mexico and Columbia and four for Brazil.
• Colombia’s Icesi University is the highest-ranked new joiner in Latin America, ranked in the 601-800 band.
• Brazil’s University of São Paulo remains the highest ranked institution in the region, still in the 201-250 band. The regional top three is completed by Brazil’s University of Campinas and Chile’s Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, both still in the 401-500 band.
• Pakistan sees eight newly ranked Universities joining the rankings for the first time including: University of Management and Technology (501-600); Bahria University, Dow University of Health Sciences, University of Engineering and Technology, Taxila, Riphah International University (all in 601-800), University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar (801-1000), University of Gujrat (1001-1200) and Lahore College for Women University (LCWU) (1201-1500).
• South Korea has a new entrant, Chosun University (1201-1500) and Seoul National University retains its position as the highest ranking University in South Korea at 56.  Other Universities have risen this year in the top 200 and include: Yonsei University (Seoul campus) (from joint 151^st to 78^th), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) (from =99 to joint 91^st), Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (from joint 185^th to joint 163^rd), and Ulsan National Institute of Technology (UNIST) (from joint 178^th to 174^th). 
• 170 universities are ranked for the first time: 74 from Asia, 53 from Europe, 25 from Africa, 17 from South America and six from North America. At country level, there are: 13 newly ranked universities from China; nine from Poland; eight from Iran; eight from Pakistan; seven from Turkey.  Among these 170 universities, Humanitas University in Italy has the best performance and is ranked in the 201-250 band.

Below Table: Overall Top 10

Regional Highlights

• The top ranked university in the UK is University of Oxford at rank 1.
• The top ranked university in North America is Harvard University at rank 2.
• The top ranked university in Europe is ETH Zurich at rank =11.
• The top ranked university in Asia is Tsinghua University at rank 16.
• The top ranked university in Oceania is University of Melbourne at rank 34.
• The top ranked university in the Middle East is King Abdulaziz University at rank =101.
• The top ranked university in Africa is University of Cape Town at rank 160.
• The top ranked university in Latin America is University of São Paulo at rank 201-250.

Below Table: Top represented countries and territories in the THE World University Rankings 2023

Phil Baty, Chief Knowledge Officer, THE, commented:

“The data is very clear: we are seeing a real shift in the balance of power in the global knowledge economy, away from the traditionally dominant western world. While the US and UK remain dominant in terms of their representation at the very top of the rankings, their relative power is waning: mainland China leads a strengthening in East Asia, taking more and more of the top 200 places, and the Middle East is seeing a real renaissance in higher education, with Saudi Arabia in particular making major gains, and the United Arab Emirates also strengthening, and the world rankings, overall, are much more inclusive, covering 104 countries and regions this year, compared to just 70 in 2016.

“I think this shift – a global levelling up – is good news for the world. A rising tide is lifting all boats: access to top quality education is opening up globally and helping to diminish the brain drain from developing countries.  We are also seeing more global diversity in creativity and innovation as well as more equal international collaboration. This should be great news for the sector as universities lead on the new ideas and breakthroughs needed to solve some of the world’s biggest shared challenges, like climate change and future pandemics.”

Please note: if you reproduce these rankings or any part, please attribute to “Times Higher Education World University Rankings”, and link to the full list on our website:  https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2023

View the full THE World University Rankings 2023 methodology:  https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/world-university-rankings-2023-methodology

12 October 2022

Times Higher Education (THE) has today released the results of the THE World University Rankings 2023.

A record number of 1,799 universities from 104 countries and regions are included in the World Rankings this year – 137 more than last year – making it the largest edition in the 19-year history of the rankings. The UK’s University of Oxford (1st) retains the top spot for the seventh consecutive year.

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings provide a rigorous overview of a university’s quality, drawing on an analysis of 15.5 million research publications and 121 million citations to those publications, plus over 40,000 responses to an annual academic reputation survey and hundreds of thousands of additional data points covering a university’s teaching environment, international outlook and industry links. Institutions are measured across 13 separate performance metrics, providing the most comprehensive picture of excellence among world-class research universities.

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