This is a list of countries according to the best position achieved by teams from these nations at major Handball and Beach Handball tournaments sanctioned by the International Handball Federation.
Notes
Results achieved in youth and junior competitions were not considered for the making of this table, neither were club tournaments.
Medals earned by athletes from defunct NOCs or historical teams have been merged with the results achieved by their immediate successor states, as follows: Russia inherits medals from the Soviet Union and the Unified Team; Serbia inherits medals from Yugoslavia; Czech Republic inherits medals from Czechoslovakia; and Germany inherits medals from East Germany.
The table is pre-sorted by total number of first place results, second place results and third place results, respectively. When equal ranks are given, countries are listed in alphabetical order.
