EO or IEO: which is which?
The Economics Olympiad (EO) and the International Economics Olympiad (IEO) are two separate competitions with very similar names. Both are for secondary school students and both test economics and personal finance, so practice on this site helps with either. But they are run by different organisations, you enter them in different ways, and their finals look quite different.
In one line each:
- EO: a ladder you climb on your own. Start in a school round at your own school, go through regional and national rounds, and the top five in each country reach the International Final in Greece.
- IEO: a national team event. Your country's sending organisation runs a selection and picks a team of up to five, which competes against other national teams at the IEO (Shenzhen, China in 2026; Tokyo, Japan planned for 2027).
Which one is mine?
Ask yourself these questions.
- Did a teacher run a school round for you? Then it is almost certainly the EO. Schools take part through a teacher registered as an EO coordinator.
- Does the competition have a team Business Case? That is the IEO. The EO's team task (the Economic Policy Challenge) does not count towards your score.
- Is the final in Ancient Olympia, Greece? That is the EO. The IEO was held in Shenzhen, China in 2026 and is planned for Tokyo, Japan in 2027.
Some countries take part in both. If you are still not sure, ask the teacher or organiser who told you about it, or check your country in the EO organisers list and the IEO organisers list.
Side by side
| Economics Olympiad (EO) | International Economics Olympiad (IEO) | |
|---|---|---|
| Run by | INEV, founded in the Czech Republic in 2016 | The IEO Association, University of Bern, Switzerland |
| Website | economicsolympiad.org | ieo-official.org |
| Who can enter | Secondary school students aged 14 to 20; no economics background needed | Under 20 on 30 June of the competition year, and still working towards a secondary school diploma on 1 December of the year before |
| How you get to the final | School round, regional round, national round; the top five in each country go to the International Final | Your country's national selection picks a team of up to five |
| No organiser in your country? | EO Global Challenge or EO Americas Challenge (online) | Email the IEO, or join the free online OpenTrack (no medals) |
| Individual papers at the final | Three papers: Microeconomics, Macroeconomics and Personal Finance | Two papers covering economics and finance together: multiple choice and open questions |
| Multiple choice | 20 per paper in micro and macro, 25 in personal finance | 40 questions in 90 minutes; +2 right, minus 0.5 wrong, 0 blank |
| Written questions | 2 multi-part open questions in each of micro and macro | 5 open questions in 155 minutes, best 4 count |
| Individual oral | Yes, for the top ten in the written round (up to 80 more points) | No |
| Team task | Economic Policy Challenge, does not count for individual scores | Business Case presentation, counts for 50 of the 200 points |
| Score | Out of 200 (written), 280 with the oral | Out of 200 (150 individual, 50 team), each part rescaled against all contestants |
| 2026 final | 10 to 14 August, Ancient Olympia, Greece | 12 to 20 July, Shenzhen, China |
| 2027 final | 2 to 6 August, Ancient Olympia, Greece | 6 to 14 August, Tokyo, Japan (planned) |
How the papers feel different
- The EO keeps topics apart. Each paper sticks to one area, so you can see exactly where your strengths are. The written questions are long, multi-part questions on a shared case or set of data.
- The IEO mixes topics and punishes guessing. One multiple choice paper covers micro, macro and finance together, and a wrong answer costs you half a point, so a blank can be better than a wild guess. Its open questions often apply models to modern settings and ask you to read graphs and tables.
- The IEO covers some extra ground. Its syllabus includes recent research ("frontiers and evidence") and finance topics such as crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies. It recommends CORE Econ's The Economy 2.0 as its main textbook. The EO follows the depth of standard introductory textbooks such as Mankiw's.
- Speaking matters in both, differently. In the EO the best students give an individual oral answer to judges. In the IEO your team presents a Business Case in English with slides.
Practise here
The question bank, practice mode and flashcards work for both. Switch between EO and IEO at the top of the page to change the mock papers, qualifying guide and difficulty labels.
- EO: mock papers, how to qualify and each round explained.
- IEO: mock papers, how to enter and about the IEO.
Not sure yet? It does not matter for practising: start with a few questions and choose later.
A naming note: INEV's own websites sometimes call the Economics Olympiad's final round the "International Economics Olympiad". On this site, "IEO" always means the competition run from Bern.
Sources: economicsolympiad.org, inev.cz, the Economics Olympiad's "2026 International Final Round Academic Processes" document, ieo-official.org, the IEO Regulations and Syllabus, checked October 2026.