Africa. South Africa remains the continent's dominant higher education ecosystem. Seven South African universities see 113 departments ranked, accounting for well over half of the continent's total. But 24 of South Africa's departments drop in rank while only 20 improve in rank.
Asia. In Asia, Singapore remains dominant at the very top of the rankings, with 14 departments among the top 10 of the 48 subject tables. But China continues to increase its competitiveness, recording a higher share of top-50 departments than ever.
Australia. The Australian sector still remains home to numerous outstanding subject providers. Australian National University in particular performs strongly, ranking among the global top 10 for seven different subjects – a year-on-year increase of three.
Latin America. Of the 555 Latin American university departments ranked, 129 have declined in rank, while 89 have improved their rank, constituting "systemic relative decline", QS says. Latin American representation at the top-50, top-100 and top-200 level has also decreased year-on-year.
Middle East. QS ranked 145 departments across eight Middle Eastern nations, an increase of 60% on last year, with 33 departments improving their rank, and 18 departments declining in rank. Saudi Arabia remains the region's dominant higher education system. Some 56 of its departments are ranked, and 28 of the 33 top-200 ranks achieved by Middle Eastern universities are attributable to Saudi Arabian institutions.
North America. The United States' higher education system has continued to decline, losing almost 20% of its top rankings for its departments in a year, and recording deeper deteriorations in liberal arts disciplines. But Harvard University remains the world's outstanding university, ranking number one in 12 subjects, closely followed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ranking first in 11 subjects. Canada's higher education sector has consolidated its status as the world's third best in terms of research performance. In total, 557 Canadian university departments are ranked. A total of 123 departments drop in rank, while 139 improve their rank.