GMAT score upsurge: about 20% of test takers are scoring 700 and more.

 GMAT score upsurge: about 20% of test takers are scoring 700 and more.

GMAC developed the graduate management admission test (GMAT) to ensure that students are adequately prepared for graduate-level work.

700 on their GMAT test was considered a true achievement at one point. A 700 test score opened up many options for the most competitive MBA programs around the world.

However, a 700 score is no longer as distinct as it once was. According to 2021 statistics, nearly 18% of students who sat for the GMAT test scored 700 or higher, a significant increase from the 13% who scored that level only five years earlier in 2017. In the United States, it was even higher: 22.5% of completed exams received scores of 700 or higher.

According to the Graduate Management Admission Council, 28,072 of the 156,453 GMAT exams administered in 2021 received 700 or higher scores, compared to 32,490 of the 250,761 tests administered in 2017.

There is a significant increase in the GMAT score sent to schools 

The GMAT score varies from country to country. The average score of GMAT scores sent to schools on a global basis was around 35 points from 645 to 613 in just five years. With the biggest jump in average scores in U.S. applicants for business programs. The average score sent to US schools climbed 45 points from 613 in 2017 to 658 in 2021.

The GMAT test takers score 700 and up in India making it a nearly 21% increase. Below is a tabular form showing some of the countries with 700 and above scores in 2017 and 2021.

Country	GMAT Exam taken in 2017	Number of 700 and above scores	Percentage of 700 and above scores	GMAT exam talen in 2021	Percentage of 700 and above score
Africa	4,727	166	3.51%	2,983	7.8%
Egypt	527	14	2.7%	311	4.8%
Nigeria	1,268	37	0.3%	786	6.9%
South Africa	675	49	7.3%	484	8.1%m
Australia and Pacific Island	960	242	25.2%	691	31.7%
Australia	800	203	25.4%	571	32.7%
New Zealand	146	39	26.7%	119	26.9%
Canada	6,081	878	14.4%	4,298	19.6%
Central and south Asia	35,247	5,323	15.1%	28,839	20.6%
India	32,514	5106	15.7%	27,445	21.1%
Nepal	578	21	3.6%	201	8.0%
Pakistan	1,227	94	7.7%	612	11.4%
East and Southeast Asia	86,213	10,447	12.1%	51,259	15.7%
China	68,906	8,733	12.7%	39,739	16.7%
South Korea	3,681	481	13.1%	2,483	16.8%
Taiwan	4,086	328	8.0%	3,074	8.7%
Eastern Europe	4,413	578	13.1%	446	15.1%
Poland	385	65	16.9%	295	12.5%
Russia	1,754	240	13.7%	1,018	16.8%
Ukraine	373	31	8.3%	257	16.0%
Mexican Caribbean and Latin America	8,387	850	10.1%	5,474	14.7%
Brazil	2,755	411	14.9%	1,375	23.1%
Mexico	1,523	88	5.8%	1,155	8.9%
Peru	940	66	7.0%	745	11.5%
Middle east	6,418	411	6.4%	3,681	11.4%
Israel	1,408	131	9.3%	592	16.7%
Saudi Arabia	1,444	8	0.6%	540	5.0%
Turkey	1,052	142	13.5%	662	16.2%
United States	79,746	11,317	14.2%	38,509	22.5%
Western Europe	18,569	2,278	12.3%	17,683	13.7%
France	2,782	309	11.1%	2,890	15.3%
Germany	4,213	543	12.9%	3,808	11.1%
Italy	2,342	252	10.8%	3,033	11.1%

According to reports, the average GMAT scores documented by business schools are a reflection of inflation. In recent years, one or more top MBA programs have announced an increase in the average GMAT score from the previous year. For example, the University of Southern California's Marshall School consistently outperforms, with a 732 average GMAT score for the 2021 class.

According to Manhattan Prep's content and curriculum director, there are several reasons for the increase in scores, but this does not mean we can call it inflation because it may imply that the exams have gotten easier when they have not.

Instead, there is a significant change in the score that is used to calculate the average GMAT data score, with the weakest score dropping out of the set. If students are not confident that they can hit a 700+ on the GMAT, they can take the GRE, and because of the covid pandemic tests have become optional for candidates who are not confident about scoring well on the GMAT.

According to GMAC's latest report for 2021, only 106,565 candidates took the exam 156,453 times, a significant 39.2% drop from the 175,200 candidates who sat for 250,761 GMAT exams, a 37.6% drop, in the testing year 2017. According to the GMAC report, the drop was even greater between 2020 and 2021 due to a variety of factors such as test center availability, student mobility, and uncertainty about graduate programs. During this time, many schools announced changes to their application procedures and requirements. Only 66,626 unique GMAT examinees sent 301,107 score reports to programs worldwide in 2021, a 50% decrease from the 133,345 GMAT test takers who sent 557,587 score reports (-46.0%) in 2017.

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