Muscat – Oman has moved up to 69th place among 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, compared to 74th in 2024, according to the latest report published on Monday.

The index ranks world economies on innovation capacity using about 80 indicators grouped into innovation inputs and outputs. Oman was placed 48th among 54 high-income economies and 12th among 18 economies in Northern Africa and Western Asia.

Oman performed better in innovation inputs than in outputs this year. It ranked 55th in inputs, an improvement on last year, but slipped to 89th in outputs.

Its strongest indicators included state of cluster development (ninth), policy stability for doing business (tenth) and graduates in science and engineering (12th). Oman was ranked 14th for foreign direct investment net inflows as a percentage of GDP and 15th for ICT access.

Weak areas included low-carbon energy use, where Oman ranked 127th, and industrial designs by origin per GDP, where it ranked 121st.

In the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates led at 30th place, followed by Saudi Arabia (46th), Qatar (48th), Bahrain (62nd) and Kuwait (73rd).

Now in its 18th edition, GII shows a group of middle-income economies – led by China (tenth), India (38th), Türkiye (43rd), Vietnam (44th), the Philippines (50th), Indonesia (55th) and Morocco (57th) – continuing to climb the rankings. Since the start of the decade, Saudi Arabia (46th), Qatar (48th), Brazil (52nd), Mauritius (53rd), Bahrain (62nd) and Jordan (65th) have been among the fastest climbers.

“GII 2025 maps the contours of innovation across the world, showing us that the fastest-advancing economies in the GII are those that view innovation as a fundamental engine of resilience, growth and competitiveness,” said Daren Tang, Director General of World Intellectual Property Organization. “This year’s GII reveals both encouraging progress as well as challenges that still need to be addressed for countries to fully harness their innovation potential.”

The top ten countries in the index are Switzerland, Sweden, United States of America, South Korea, Singapore, United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and China.

Oman’s performance in GII 2025

48th among 54 high-income economies

12th in Northern Africa and Western Asia

55th in innovation inputs

9th globally in cluster development

10th in policy stability for doing business

12th in graduates in science and engineering

14th in FDI net inflows as percentage of GDP

15th in ICT access

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