Migrants in Sweden
© atranswe / Flickr.com - BY-SA 2.0Migrants in Sweden
A survey of researcher James Flynn shows that the IQ of people in Denmark, Norway and Finland is clearly dropping.

Since the 1990's, people in these countries lost on average 0.23 IQ points per year, according to the study. From Sweden there is no data, but Flynn believes that the same trend is visible there as well.

Researcher James Flynn, who's called a "left-wing scientist" by Swedish media says:

"It is clear that all Scandinavian countries have a declining trend since 1995."

Flynn believes that the IQ drop will soon be seen throughout the West. Even in countries such as Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands there are already signs that the intelligence ratio is stagnating.

He thinks that the decline is the result of the worsening and deterioration of schools in the Western world's schools since the 1980s. Among other things, school work has become less demanding he says.

If it's possible to reverse the trend, Flynn does not know, but he has some tips on how to improve the results: A good thing would be if more read thick books, preferably about history, he says.

It's remarkable that Flynn does not talk about the effect that mass migration has on average IQ numbers. Statistics show that Europe admitted for decades a millions of people from undeveloped countries, with a much lower average IQ.

This could also be an important factor for explaining an IQ drop in several European countries. For example, the drop in IQ points started in the 1990's, a time when the accumulative effects of decades of mass immigration could become visible. More research and probably more honesty is needed.