IIHF World Ranking

The system was approved at the IIHF congress of September 2003.[2] According to IIHF President René Fasel, the system was designed to be simple to understand and "reflect the long-term quality of all national hockey programs and their commitment to international hockey".[3]

The ranking is used to determine the seeding of the teams for the next World Championship and to select the teams which can participate in Winter Olympics without playing in the qualifying round. For example, for the 2014 Winter Olympics, the first nine teams of the Men's World Ranking and the first six of the Women's World Ranking were pre-qualified. Qualification for the men's tournament at the 2014 Winter Olympics was structured around the 2012 ranking. Twelve spots were made available for teams. The top nine teams in the World Ranking after the 2012 Men's World Ice Hockey Championships received automatic berths into the Ice Hockey event. All IIHF teams had an opportunity to qualify for the event. Teams that wished to participate ranked below 29th played a preliminary qualification in September 2012. The winner of the preliminary and teams ranked 19–29th were divided in three groups to play in the pre-qualification round in November 2012. The winner of each pre-qualification group and teams ranked 10–18 were divided in three groups to play in the final qualification in February 2013. The winner of each group then joined the nine top-ranked teams in the Olympics in 2014.

The women's tournament uses a similar qualification format. The top six teams in the IIHF Women's World Ranking after the 2012 IIHF Women's World Championship received automatic berths into the ice hockey event. Lower ranked teams had an opportunity to qualify for the event. Teams ranked 19th and below were divided into two groups where they played in a preliminary qualification round in the autumn of 2012. The two winners and teams ranked 13–18 were divided into two groups where they played in the pre-qualification round in November 2012. The two group winners from the round advanced to the final qualification round, where the teams ranked seventh through twelfth joined them.[4]

The Men's 2021 ranking is based on the performance at the World Championships of 2021, 2020, 2019, and 2018, and at the 2018 Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

For the 2018 Winter Olympics, Russia's Olympic Committee and many of its athletes were banned for illegal doping.[5] The IIHF opposed an outright ban on all Russian players,[6] concerned that the KHL would disallow its players from participating in the tournament, as the NHL had done. The ice hockey team from the Russian hockey federation played under the banner of the International Olympic Committee as "Olympic Athletes from Russia", along with other Russian athletes not banned for doping.

All tournaments in 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, teams were awarded points based on their seeding for their respective tournaments. The Championship division received points based on the 2019 World Ranking, while the remaining divisions received points based on the previous year's results.

The following table lists the full breakdown of ranking following the 2020 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships, and the ranking for the 2021 Men's Ice Hockey World Championships. All tournament's points have their full value displayed, while the ranking is calculated by adding the current year's tournament points to the depreciated previous three years' tournament points as explained above. The depreciated percentages are shown in the column headings, first for the current total, then for the new total. The "Total" columns are the sums of the current tournament points and the depreciated values for past tournaments. The "+/–" columns indicate the increase or decrease in ranking since the last tournament. A dash in a tournament column indicates that the country did not participate.

2021 Rank	2020 Rank	Team	WC division (as of 2021)	WC2021 (—) (100%)	WC2020 (100%) (75%)	WC2019 (75%) (50%)	WC2018 (50%) (25%)	OLY2018 (50%) (25%)	WC2017 (25%) (—)	2021 Total	+/−	2020 Total	+/−
1	1	Canada	Championship	1200	1200	1160	1100	1120	1160	3235		3470
2	3	Finland	Championship	1160	1120	1200	1060	1040	1100	3125	1	3345
3	2	Russia	Championship	1060	1160	1120	1040	1200	1120	3050	1	3400
4	6	United States	Championship	1120	1040	1020	1120	1020	1060	2945	2	3140
5	7	Germany	Championship	1100	1020	1040	920	1160	1000	2905	2	3090
6	5	Czech Republic	Championship	1020	1060	1100	1020	1100	1020	2895	1	3200
7	4	Sweden	Championship	960	1100	1060	1200	1060	1200	2880	3	3325
8	8	Switzerland	Championship	1040	1000	1000	1160	940	1040	2815		3060
9	9	Slovakia	Championship	1000	960	960	960	920	860	2670		2835
10	10	Latvia	Championship	920	940	940	1000	860	940	2560		2810
11	11	Norway	Championship	880	920	900	880	1000	920	2490		2765
12	12	Denmark	Championship	900	900	920	940	800	900	2470		2685
13	16	Kazakhstan	Championship	940	840	800	760	820	760	2365	3	2420	3
14	13	Belarus	Championship	840	880	780	840	880	880	2320	1	2545	1
15	14	France	Division I A	840[lower-alpha 1]	800	840	900	840	960	2295	1	2540	1
16	19	Great Britain	Championship	860	820	880	800	660	680	2280	3	2380	1
17	15	Italy	Championship	820	860	860	780	760	820	2280	2	2480	1
18	17	Austria	Division I A	780[lower-alpha 1]	780	820	860	780	800	2185	1	2415	2
19	18	South Korea	Division I A	760[lower-alpha 1]	760	760	820	900	780	2140	1	2385	1
20	20	Slovenia	Division I A	740[lower-alpha 1]	740	740	720	960	840	2085		2345	2
21	21	Hungary	Division I A	720[lower-alpha 1]	720	720	740	700	720	1980		2160
22	22	Poland	Division I B	700[lower-alpha 1]	660	660	700	740	740	1885		2060
23	23	Lithuania	Division I B	680[lower-alpha 1]	680	700	680	560	640	1850		1985	1
24	25	Romania	Division I A	660[lower-alpha 1]	700	680	600	580	560	1820	1	1940	2
25	24	Japan	Division I B	640[lower-alpha 1]	640	640	660	720	660	1785	1	1975	1
26	27	Estonia	Division I B	620[lower-alpha 1]	620	620	640	600	620	1705	1	1860	1
27	26	Ukraine	Division I B	600[lower-alpha 1]	600	600	620	680	700	1675	1	1875	1
28	28	Netherlands	Division II A	580[lower-alpha 1]	560	580	560	640	580	1590		1740
29	30	Serbia	Division I B	560[lower-alpha 1]	580	560	520	540	520	1540	1	1660
30	29	Croatia	Division II A	540[lower-alpha 1]	540	540	580	620	600	1515	1	1695
31	31	Spain	Division II A	520[lower-alpha 1]	500	500	440	520	460	1385		1470
32	32	China	Division II A	500[lower-alpha 1]	480	480	500	440	440	1335		1420
33	35	Australia	Division II A	480[lower-alpha 1]	520	520	540	—	540	1265	2	1315
34	34	Israel	Division II A	460[lower-alpha 1]	460	440	400	460	400	1240		1320
35	33	Iceland	Division II B	440[lower-alpha 1]	420	420	460	480	480	1200	2	1325
36	36	Belgium	Division II B	420[lower-alpha 1]	440	460	480	—	500	1100		1150	1
37	37	Mexico	Division II B	400[lower-alpha 1]	360	360	360	500	360	1065		1150	1
38	38	Georgia	Division II B	380[lower-alpha 1]	380	380	320	400	280	1035		1095	1
39	39	New Zealand	Division II B	360[lower-alpha 1]	400	400	420	—	420	965		1015	1
40	40	Bulgaria	Division II B	340[lower-alpha 1]	340	320	300	420	300	935		1015	2
41	41	North Korea	Division III A	320[lower-alpha 1]	320	340	380	—	380	825		860
42	42	Turkey	Division III A	300[lower-alpha 1]	300	300	280	—	340	745		750
43	43	Luxembourg	Division III A	280[lower-alpha 1]	260	260	340	—	320	690		705
44	45	Turkmenistan	Division III A	260[lower-alpha 1]	280	280	200	—	—	660	1	590	2
45	44	Chinese Taipei	Division III A	240[lower-alpha 1]	240	240	260	—	220	605	1	605	1
46	46	South Africa	Division III B	220[lower-alpha 1]	200	220	240	—	240	540		545	2
47	47	United Arab Emirates	Division III A	200[lower-alpha 1]	220	200	160	—	200	505		500	1
48	48	Hong Kong	Division III B	180[lower-alpha 1]	180	180	220	—	260	460		490	2
49	49	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Division III B	160[lower-alpha 1]	140	140	180	—	0	380		335
50	50	Thailand	Division III B	140[lower-alpha 1]	160	160	—	—	—	340		280	1
51	51	Kuwait	Division IV	120[lower-alpha 1]	120	120	140	—	—	305		280	1
52	52	Kyrgyzstan	Division IV	100[lower-alpha 1]	100	100	—	—	—	225		175
53	53	Malaysia	Division IV	80[lower-alpha 1]	80	—	—	—	—	140		80	new
54	54	Philippines	Division IV	60[lower-alpha 1]	60	—	—	—	—	105		60	new
55	—	Singapore	Division IV	40[lower-alpha 1]	—	—	—	—	—	40	new	—	—

The Women's 2019 ranking is based on the performance at the World Championships of 2019, 2018, 2017, and 2016, and at the 2018 Olympic Ice Hockey Tournament in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

For the 2018 Winter Olympics, Russia's Olympic Committee and many of its athletes were banned due to systemic illegal doping.[5] The IIHF opposed an outright ban on all Russian players[6] and the ice hockey team from the Russian hockey federation played under the banner of the International Olympic Committee as "Olympic Athletes from Russia", along with other Russian athletes not banned for doping.

Most of the tournaments in 2020 were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, teams were awarded points based on their seeding for their respective tournaments. The Championship division received points based on the 2019 World Ranking, while Divisions IA, IB, and IIA received points based on the previous year's results. Divisions IIB and III were completed and scored as scheduled.

The following table lists the ranking following the 2019 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships and the ranking for the 2020 Women's Ice Hockey World Championships. All tournament's points have their full value displayed, while the ranking is calculated by adding the current year's tournament points to the depreciated previous three years' tournament points as explained above. The depreciated percentages are shown in the column headings, first for the current total, then for the new total. The "Total" columns are the sums of the current tournament points and the depreciated values for past tournaments. The "+/–" columns indicate the increase or decrease in ranking since the last tournament. A dash in a tournament column indicates that the country did not participate.

2021 Rank	2020 Rank	Team	WC division (as of 2021)	WC2021 (—) (100%)	WC2020 (100%) (75%)	WC2019 (75%) (50%)	WC2018 (50%) (25%)	OLY2018 (50%) (25%)	WC2017 (25%) (—)	2021 Total	+/−	2020 Total	+/−
1	1	United States	Championship	1160	1200	1200	1200	1200	1200	3260		3600
2	2	Canada	Championship	1200	1160	1120	1160	1160	1160	3210		3450
3	3	Finland	Championship	1120	1120	1160	1120	1120	1120	3100		3390
4	4	Russia	Championship	1060	1100	1100	1100	1100	1060	2985		3290
5	5	Switzerland	Championship	1100	1060	1060	1060	1060	1020	2955		3170
6	6	Japan	Championship	1040	1040	1000	1040	1040	960	2840		3070
7	7	Czech Republic	Championship	1020	1020	1040	1000	960	1000	2795		3030	1
8	8	Germany	Championship	1000	1000	1020	980	940	1100	2740		3000	1
9	9	Sweden	Division I A	960	920	960	1020	1020	1040	2640		2920	2
10	12	Hungary	Championship	960	940	920	920	820	880	2560	2	2720	2
11	11	Denmark	Championship	940	960	900	900	880	900	2555		2750
12	10	France	Division I A	920	900	940	960	920	860	2535	2	2760
13	13	Norway	Division I A	880	880	880	880	900	920	2425		2660
14	14	Austria	Division I A	860	860	860	940	860	940	2385		2640	2
15	15	Slovakia	Division I A	840	840	840	860	800	840	2305		2510
16	17	Italy	Division I B	820	800	820	840	840	760	2250	1	2445
17	16	South Korea	Division I B	800	780	780	820	1000	720	2230	1	2455
18	18	Netherlands	Division I A	780	820	800	720	720	700	2155		2315	3
19	20	Poland	Division I B	760	760	760	740	700	740	2070	1	2235	2
20	19	China	Division I B	740	740	740	760	760	780	2045	1	2250	1
21	21	Kazakhstan	Division I B	720	720	720	780	740	820	2000		2225	2
22	22	Latvia	Division II A	700	680	700	800	780	800	1955		2195	4
23	24	Slovenia	Division I B	680	700	680	640	620	640	1860	1	2000
24	23	Great Britain	Division II A	660	660	660	700	660	680	1825	1	2005
25	25	Spain	Division II A	640	640	640	600	680	580	1760		1905
26	26	Mexico	Division II A	620	620	620	620	640	600	1710		1865
27	28	North Korea	Division II A	600	600	600	680	—	660	1520	1	1555
28	27	Turkey	Division II B	580	500	500	520	600	520	1485	1	1565
29	29	Australia	Division II B	560	560	580	660	—	620	1435		1480
30	30	Chinese Taipei	Division II A	540	580	560	580	—	480	1400		1410	3
31	31	Iceland	Division II B	520	540	520	560	—	540	1325		1345	1
32	32	New Zealand	Division II B	500	520	540	540	—	560	1295		1335	1
33	35	Croatia	Division II B	480	480	480	480	—	—	1200	2	1080	1
34	33	Hong Kong	Division III	460	340	380	420	580	400	1155	1	1225	3
35	34	Romania	Division III	440	400	460	500	—	500	1095	1	1120
36	37	South Africa	Division II B	420	440	400	440	—	440	1060	1	1070	2
37	36	Belgium	Division III	400	420	420	460	—	460	1040	1	1080	1
38	39	Ukraine	Division III	380	460	440	—	—	—	945	1	790
39	38	Bulgaria	Division III	360	380	360	400	—	420	925	1	955
40	40	Lithuania	Division III	340	360	—	—	—	—	610		360	new
41	—	Estonia	Division III	320	—	—	—	—	—	320	new	—	—
42	—	Bosnia and Herzegovina	Division III	300	—	—	—	—	—	300	new	—	—

• List of IIHF World Rankings

• World Ranking for the current year at IIHF.com
• World Rankings from 2007 to 2018 at IIHF.com