Frequently asked questions

The IEO is an annual competition for high-school students worldwide in economics and finance. It rewards applied reasoning across three rounds and is supported by Nobel laureate Eric Maskin. Participation in the official competition is free.

High-school students who are under 20 on 30 June of the competition year. Teams have up to five contestants, with one or two team leaders. No prior olympiad experience is required.

A Finance & Economics multiple-choice test (40 questions); an open-questions round (five questions, of which four are graded); and a team business case presented in English before a panel of judges.

The competition is scored out of 200: the individual Economics and Finance part (150) and the team Business Case (50). Raw marks in each part are standardised with z-scores and then combined, so the parts weigh together fairly; ties are broken on the Economics and Finance result.

Gold, silver and bronze go to the best overall individual results, decided by the International Board. The total number of medals is capped at half of the invited contestants (counted as participating countries times five), so fewer than half of finalists take a medal. In 2025 (Baku), 133 medals were awarded: 24 gold, 43 silver and 66 bronze.

Participation in the official Olympiad is free of charge. Any regional arrangements are confirmed by each region. Guidance from this site is a separate, optional service.

Enter your regional round, then top performers are selected to represent their region at the international finals, held in a different host city each year (Baku in 2025).

The 9th International Economics Olympiad is scheduled for Shenzhen, China, on 12-20 July 2026. It returns to China after recent editions in Hong Kong (2024) and Baku (2025) – the closest the finals have been to students across Greater China in years.

For Chinese Mainland, the main-track route runs through the official China programme: an online preliminary round in December 2025, then the national round (the China Station) in Huzhou, Zhejiang on 5-8 March 2026, with team registration closing 14 January 2026. As host nation, China fields three national teams. Dates are set each season, so confirm the current ones with us.

OpenTrack is a free, fully online parallel category that anyone can enter directly – no national selection, and open to all ages. You sit the same three rounds, but OpenTrack is scored and normalised separately from the main competition. In 2026 it runs 13-19 July, with registration closing 9 July.

We cover Greater China: Chinese Mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Chinese Taipei. See the Regions page, then contact us for the round that applies to you and its current schedule.

Start from the official syllabus, build core micro, macro and finance, then practise past open questions under time and rehearse the case as a team. The Resources page has a five-phase plan, and a mentor can tailor it to your level.

A strong IEO result is an internationally benchmarked, externally verified credential in economics, PPE and finance – scarce by design, since the medal cap means fewer than half of finalists earn one. Beyond the certificate it signals genuine analytical, quantitative and teamwork ability, as one part of a whole application.

No. This is an independent guide and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or the official site of the IEO Association. For official rules and results, always refer to ieo-official.org.