What is the average IQ for Africans

1. The headline numbers: two clusters of estimates

One influential source, the Lynn and Becker compilations used in many online country lists, reports an average for sub‑Saharan Africa around 68.92 and assigns national estimates for countries such as Kenya (≈75.2) using a mix of psychometric and educational test data ^{[1] [5]}. By contrast, systematic literature reviews and analyses that prioritize representative sampling — including a systematic review that concluded mean IQs near 82 when compared to UK norms — find higher regional averages in the order of roughly 80–82 ^{[2] [3]}.

2. Why these numbers diverge: methods and assumptions matter

Differences stem from varied methods: some datasets aggregate a patchwork of IQ tests, national assessment scores, and extrapolations from neighboring countries when direct data are missing, while other teams restrict analyses to representative, randomized samples and adjust for things like Flynn effects and test type ^{[1] [3] [2]}. Critics argue that compilations relying on convenience or elite samples can underestimate or overestimate true population means; defenders of lower estimates counter that many representative samples are scarce or unevenly distributed ^{[4] [3]}.

3. Within‑Africa variation: the continent is not a single population

Country‑level reports highlight large intraregional variation: some compilations list nations such as Mauritius or Libya with much higher averages (Mauritius ≈86.56 in media summaries), while others list countries with substantially lower scores, producing wide national spreads that make any single "African average" blunt and potentially misleading ^{[6] [7] [8]}. Many analyses explicitly caution that national averages conflate diverse linguistic, educational, economic, and health contexts that shape test performance ^{[5] [9]}.

4. The scientific debate and the politics of measurement

Researchers have publicly contested each other’s inclusion criteria, sample selection, and statistical corrections; Wicherts, Dolan, and van der Maas argued for higher sub‑Saharan means (~80) after selecting representative samples, while Lynn and others have defended lower medians based on different test sets and imputations ^{[4] [3]}. The field is entangled with broader political and ethical debates: some authors’ work has been used in controversial policy or ideological arguments, which heightens scrutiny of motives and methods in both academic papers and popular summaries ^{[4] [3]}.

5. What IQ tests actually measure and their limits for this question

IQ scores index performance on particular cognitive tests under specific conditions and are influenced by education, health, nutrition, testing language, test familiarity, and socio‑economic context; therefore differences between countries or regions do not map cleanly onto immutable traits and can shift with schooling, public health, and secular gains in test performance (the Flynn Effect) — an effect some reviewers say has yet to uniformly affect sub‑Saharan Africa ^{[2] [3] [5]}.

6. Bottom line: the best‑supported contemporary range

Given available reporting, a defensible summary is that published estimates of average IQ for sub‑Saharan Africa cluster between about 69 and 82 depending on data sources and methods, with several rigorous reviews centering near ~80–82 and other compilations (notably those building on Lynn’s datasets) reporting lower averages near the high 60s ^{[1] [2] [3]}. Any single continental average flattens extreme national and subnational differences and obscures methodological disputes, so the range — not a single point — best reflects current evidence ^{[4] [3]}.