A new global report on 15-year-old students' academic performance shows that Australian students are slipping behind in maths and reading skills compared to a decade ago, local media reported on Wednesday.

The 2012 Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) measures the mathematics, reading and science skills of half a million 15-year-old students from around the world.

The PISA report, released on Tuesday, found Australian students ' maths performance dropped by about a half a year of schooling between 2003 and 2012.

It found Australian teens came equal 17th in maths, equal 10th in reading and equal 8th in science.

China's teens performed the best, topping the latest league table of 65 countries in maths, science and literacy.

About 14,500 Australian students aged 15, from 775 schools, were measured in the assessment, which was conducted by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) for the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).