The Experts Club analytical center analyzed the latest ranking of the world’s top universities, the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2026 (ARWU), known as the Shanghai Ranking. Mainland China became the largest university system by the number of higher education institutions represented in the ARWU, known as the Shanghai Ranking. The top 1,000 included 234 universities from mainland China compared with 187 universities from the United States.
At the same time, the United States continues to be significantly more strongly represented at the very top of the ranking.
The full list of countries and territories by the number of universities in ARWU 2026 (in descending order by the number of universities):
Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan are counted separately here, in accordance with ShanghaiRanking’s territorial breakdown.
The structure of the ranking shows the further strengthening of Asia. In addition to mainland China, among the systems with the largest representation are South Korea with 29 universities and Japan with 26. Taiwan is represented separately with 12 universities, Hong Kong with eight and Macao with two.
ARWU evaluates more than 2,500 universities worldwide, but publishes only the top 1,000. Unlike a number of other global rankings, it focuses primarily on scientific and research performance rather than student reviews, reputation among employers or the quality of student life.
The final score is based on six criteria: alumni who are Nobel Prize and Fields Medal laureates account for 10% of the score; such laureates among staff – 20%; Clarivate Highly Cited Researchers – 20%; publications in Nature and Science – 20%; papers indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index – another 20%; and academic performance per capita of an institution – 10%.
For ARWU 2026, the Highly Cited Researchers list released in December 2025, publications in Nature and Science for 2021–2025, as well as papers indexed in Web of Science in 2025, were used.
Therefore, the Shanghai Ranking is more accurately regarded primarily as an indicator of the research strength of universities and national scientific systems, rather than as a direct assessment of the quality of education or learning conditions for students.
No Ukrainian university was included among the world’s top 1,000 universities in this ranking.
