Stockholm University in world ranking tables

Stockholm University is one of the highest-ranked universities in the world and one of the top universities in Europe according to several well-established university rankings. In Sweden, Stockholm University is one of the leading universities.

Stockholm University is among the highest-ranked Swedish universities in several major international university rankings. The results vary between the rankings because they use different methodologies and measure different aspects of the universities’ research and education.

Stockholm University’s position in international university rankings:

ARWU (Shanghai): 103 (2026)
Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE): 231 (2027)
QS World University Rankings: 167 (2027)

The table shows Stockholm University’s latest rankings globally, in Europe, within the EU, and in Sweden.
Ranking	Ranked universities	World	Europe	EU	Sweden
ARWU/Shanghai, 2026	2,500	103	31	17	3
THE, 2027	2,297	231	96	62	6
QS, 2027	1,500	167	69	38	4
Leiden (PP(top 10%)), 2025	1,600	293	106	50	3

Stockholm University in ARWU/Shanghai Ranking

In the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) – sometimes called the Shanghai Ranking – Stockholm University is ranked 103 globally 2026.

This ranking is published by the independent organization Shanghai Ranking Consultancy. The indicators they use to rank the universities are primarily:

Number of alumni and academic staff who have received Nobel Prizes and Fields Medals.

Number of articles published in the journals of Nature and Science.
The number of Highly Cited Researchers and articles indexed in Science Citation Index - Expanded and Social Sciences Citation Index.

Nine subjects ranked in the global top 100 in GRAS

The Shanghai Ranking’s Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) 2026 ranks approximately 2,000 universities across 57 subjects within natural sciences, engineering, life sciences, medical sciences, and social sciences. Stockholm University ranks in the global top 100 in nine subjects: Environmental Science and Engineering (25), Sociology (41), Earth Sciences (42), Political Science (49), Atmospheric Science (51–75), Oceanography (51–75), Economics (76–100), Physics (76–100), and Ecology (76–100).

Stockholm University’s placement in the Shanghai Ranking’s subject rankings

Stockholm University in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE)

In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE), Stockholm University is ranked 231st globally 2027.

This ranking is published by THE World Universities Insights Limited. The ranking results are based on surveys of selected individuals and statistics derived from 18 indicators across five areas: teaching, research, citations, international outlook, and industry income.

Stockholm University’s position in the THE World University Rankings 2026

Three subjects ranked in the global top 100 by THE

In the Times Higher Education subject rankings for 2026, universities worldwide are ranked based on their performance across eleven subjects. Stockholm University is represented in nine of these categories and ranks in the global top 100 for three: Law (82nd place), Social Sciences (87th place), and Life Sciences (91st place).

Stockholm University’s position in the THE World University Rankings by Subject 2026

Stockholm University in the QS World University Rankings

In the QS World University Rankings (QS), Stockholm University is ranked 167th globally 2027.

This ranking is published by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) and is based on criteria such as academic reputation, citations, employer reputation, student-to-faculty ratio, internationalization, international research networks, employability, and sustainability.

Eleven subjects ranked in the global top 100 by QS

QS also publishes subject rankings; 55 subjects are categorized into five broad subject areas. The subjects at Stockholm University ranked among the top 100 globally in 2026 are:
Social Policy and Administration (30), Environmental Sciences (35), Sociology (38), Geography (45), Linguistics (81), and Biology (87). The university is also ranked in the 51–100 band for Development Studies, Anthropology, Geology, Geophysics, and Earth and Marine Sciences.

Stockholm University also ranks 91st globally in the broad subject area of Natural Sciences.

Stockholm University in the Leiden Ranking

The Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University produces the Leiden Ranking, which differs from many other university rankings by allowing users to select the specific bibliometric indicators used to compare the universities.

The ranking is based on publication and citation data from the Web of Science database, but it does not take the size of the institution into account.

The 2025 Leiden Ranking lists nearly 1,600 universities worldwide based on the proportion of highly cited publications. In 2025 Stockholm University is ranked 293 in the world according to indicator PP (top 10%), which shows the proportion of articles that belong to the world’s 10 percent most cited in their fields. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Princeton University och Calech (California Institute of Technology) are the top three universities in the world.

In Sweden, Stockholm University ranks third, after Karolinska Institutet and Chalmers University of Technology.

What is ranking?

University rankings are lists that rank higher education institutions based on various indicators of quality in higher education and research. The lists can be international, national or regional, they can rank different subjects or entire universities.

The ranking institutions use different indicators to measure quality, these can change over time as well as the number of universities included. Therefore, it is good to know that rankings do not give the full picture of a university’s quality.

Last updated: 2026-10-09

Source: Communications Office