Average FIDE Rating by Country (October 2026)

What is the average FIDE rating?

We counted every player on FIDE’s October 2026 combined list who has a standard rating and no inactivity flag: 221,405 active players out of 569,655 who have ever held a standard rating.

Their average standard rating is 1734 and the median is 1700. The average sits above the median because the distribution has a long tail of strong players. FIDE ratings start at 1400, so no active player is rated below that floor.

Percentiles give the same picture from the other side: 10% of active players are rated 1472 or lower, 25% are at 1556 or lower, 75% at 1873 or lower, 90% at 2040 or lower and 99% at 2373 or lower.

How FIDE ratings are distributed

Most active players sit between 1400 and 1900. The busiest band is 1500 to 1599, and every band above 1700 holds fewer players than the one below it.

The list holds 1,328 active grandmasters and 2,451 active international masters. Women make up 23,733 of the active players (10.7%), with an average of 1631 and a median of 1571, against 1746 and 1716 for men.

Which countries have the highest average FIDE rating?

Among the 104 federations with at least 200 active rated players, the highest averages come from mid-sized federations where most rated players are experienced adults. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Cuba and Serbia all average close to 1900 or above.

Germany stands out among the large federations: 14,131 active players with an average of 1846 and 850 players rated 2200 or more, the most of any federation.

The largest federations: why a low average is not a weak country

India has the most active rated players (19,880) and one of the lowest averages in the table (1580). It also has the most active players rated 2500 or more (47) and 96 grandmasters. Spain (19,039 players, average 1751) and France (17,578 players, average 1703) follow.

The average mostly reflects who enters the list. Federations that rate many juniors and first-time tournament players start a large share of them near the 1400 floor, which pulls the average down even when the top of the federation is very strong.

The United States lists 5,209 active FIDE-rated players. Most American tournament players hold a US Chess rating instead, so the FIDE list shows only part of the country’s chess population.

Which countries have the most grandmasters?

Counting every player who holds the GM title on the list, active or not, Russia leads with 184, ahead of the United States (115), Germany (103), India (96) and Ukraine (85). Russian players who now play under the FIDE flag are counted separately (38).

Average FIDE rating of all 104 federations

The full table lists every federation with at least 200 active rated players, sorted by average standard rating. The other 104 federations with active players are too small for a stable average.

How to compare your own rating

Compare yourself with the median of your own federation rather than the world figure: a 1750 player is above the median in India or France and below it in Serbia or the Netherlands.

Ratings also say little about how a specific game will go. Before a tournament game, the opponent’s openings and recent results tell you more than the federation average.

Methodology

Source: FIDE combined rating list published for October 2026. Active players have a standard rating and no inactivity flag. Averages, medians and percentiles use standard ratings only; rapid and blitz ratings are ignored. Grandmaster counts include inactive titleholders; 2200+ and 2500+ counts include active players only. Figures are rounded to the nearest point.