MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman advanced five positions in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, ranking 69th out of 139 economies, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This progress reflects Oman’s stronger foundations for investment, competitiveness and knowledge-based growth.

The report ranked Oman within the top 20 worldwide in six sub-indicators directly tied to economic performance: development of economic clusters (9th), policy stability for doing business (10th), share of science and engineering graduates (12th), net foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows as a percentage of GDP (14th), ICT access (15th) and electricity output (16th).

Oman also advanced across three main pillars: institutions (40th globally, up 3 places), infrastructure (55th, up 8) and business sophistication (63rd, up 23) — all critical to investor confidence and private-sector development.

Notable improvements were recorded in key sub-indicators with economic impact, including a 60-place jump in patents per billion dollars of GDP, 22 places in high-tech manufacturing, 21 places in both gross capital formation and FDI inflows as a share of GDP and 20 places in knowledge production. Gains were also seen in university–industry research collaboration (+5).

Dr Saif bin Abdullah al Haddabi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation for Research and Innovation and Chair of the National Team for GII, credited the progress to national programmes supporting research, scientific publishing, incubators, academic innovation centers, digital infrastructure, human capital in science and engineering and supportive legal frameworks.

He noted that since Oman joined the index in 2015, performance has shown cumulative improvement despite year-to-year variations. This year’s rise, he said, provides a strategic base for enhancing Oman’s innovation ecosystem in line with the 11th Five-Year Plan and Oman Vision 2040, where innovation is a key driver of sustainable growth, investment attraction and the shift towards a knowledge economy.

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