This page lists the countries and benchmarking participants (regional entities) that took part in PIRLS 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, PIRLS administration was delayed in a number of countries, including Ireland, resulting in several “waves” of assessment.
Countries Participating in PIRLS
| Wave One (Administered PIRLS to original timeline; pupils at the end of Fourth grade) | ||
| Albania | Hong Kong SAR | Slovak Republic |
| Australia* | Italy | Slovenia |
| Austria | Jordan | South Africa* |
| Azerbaijan | Kosovo | Spain |
| Brazil* | Macao SAR | Sweden |
| Belgium (Flemish) | Malta | Turkiye |
| Belgium (French) | Montenegro | Uzbekistan |
| Bulgaria | Netherlands | |
| Chinese Taipei | New Zealand* | Benchmarking Participants |
| Cyprus | North Macedonia | Alberta, Canada |
| Czech Republic | Norway (5) | British Columbia, Canada |
| Denmark | Oman | Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada |
| Egypt | Poland | Moscow City, Russian Federation |
| Finland | Portugal | South Africa (6)* |
| France | Russian Federation | |
| Germany | Singapore | |
| Wave Two (Delayed administration of PIRLS by 6 months; pupils at the start of Fifth grade) | ||
| Bahrain | Lithuania | Benchmarking Participants |
| Canada | Morocco | Quebec, Canada |
| Croatia | Northern Ireland | Abu Dhabi, UAE |
| Georgia | Qatar | Dubai, UAE |
| Hungary | Saudi Arabia | |
| Ireland | United Arab Emirates | |
| Kazakhstan | United States | |
| Latvia | ||
| Wave Three (Delayed administration of PIRLS by one year to spring 2022; pupils at the end of Fourth grade) | ||
| England | ||
| Iran, Islamic Rep, of | ||
| Israel | ||
| * Southern Hemisphere participant that administered PIRLS in autumn 2021 rather than autumn 2020 as initially planned. | ||