At the other end of the scale South Africa remains top of the regional league table in 45th position (effectively down one place), followed by Mauritius, also down one place at 57.
Beyond altering international league tables, what will China's emergence as an economic superpower signify?
Scrutiny of the league table; glances at the watch as the final whistle nears; nervous inquiries about the score: all are quests for numbers.
Start with the headline league table figure, the one that tells you how many children get five or more GCSEs with a grade C or better, including English and maths.
While red and yellow cards count against a team's score in the league table, points are awarded by Premier League match delegates for respect towards opponents, respect towards the referee, behaviour of club officials and the already mentioned positive play.
The UK's education system is ranked sixth best in the developed world, according to a global league table published by education firm Pearson.
The US rose to top spot in a closely watched economic league table yesterday, as its economy was praised for its market efficiency and ability to innovate.
At the very top of the global educational league table-where only a handful of countries or systems within them manage to attain really high standards-decentralisation is the name of the game.
A league table, generated for the first time this month, looked at the global universities with research making the greatest impact - with US universities taking 40 out of the top 50 places.
And the more of them a university attracts, the higher it rises in the ever-more-important international league tables.
Another conference paper, from 1984, says: "We should strive to achieve this effect without appearing to have a cigarette that cheats the league table."
However, differences in quality of life cannot fully explain the results, with France and Germany both sitting towards the bottom of the league table.
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