Ipsos MORI, the second largest market research organisation in the United Kingdom, has listed Singapore as the 8th most ignorant country in the world. The 2016 Index of Ignorance is based on a survey of people’s knowledge about their own country.

The survey took in populations from 40 countries, and surveyed between 500 and 1,000 people aged 16 to 64 in each country from September to November. The index was created after collating survey questions about the respective country, including population, healthcare spending, home ownership and the proportion of Muslims living in the country. The index suggested that the economic status of a country has little bearing on the results.

While Singapore came in at number 8 in the index, Malaysia emerged as the 5th least ignorant country in the world.

The list from most to least ignorant, is as follows:

  1. India
  2. China
  3. Taiwan
  4. South Africa
  5. USA
  6. Brazil
  7. Thailand
  8. Singapore
  9. Turkey
  10. Indonesia
  11. Mexico
  12. Canada
  13. Montenegro
  14. Russia
  15. Serbia
  16. Philippines
  17. Hong Kong
  18. Israel
  19. Denmark
  20. Argentina
  21. France
  22. Vietnam
  23. Peru
  24. Spain
  25. Chile
  26. Hungary
  27. Japan
  28. Belgium
  29. Poland
  30. Colombia
  31. Sweden
  32. Norway
  33. Italy
  34. Germany
  35. Australia
  36. Malaysia
  37. Czech Republic
  38. South Korea
  39. United Kingdom
  40. Netherlands