Oman makes major gains in 2025 Global Innovation Index

The Sultanate of Oman has made significant progress in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, advancing five places to rank 69th out of 139 economies worldwide. This achievement is highlighted in the 18th edition of the report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The report noted Oman’s strong performance, ranking among the top 20 globally in six sub-indicators: 9th in the development of economic cluster environments; 10th in policy stability for doing business; 12th in graduates in science and engineering; 14th in net foreign direct investment inflows as a percentage of GDP; 15th in access to information and communication technology and 16th in electricity production (kWh per million people).

The report also mentioned that Oman improved in three key pillars. It advanced three places in the Institutions rankings to 40th place,  eight ranks in the Infrastructure rankings to 55th place, and 23 places in the Business Sophistication rankings to 63rd place.

Oman also achieved qualitative leaps in seven specific sub-indicators, advancing 60 places in patents by origin, 23 places in the business sophistication pillar, 22 places in high-tech manufacturing, and 21 places in both gross capital formation and net foreign direct investment inflows. It also moved up 20 places in knowledge production and five places in research cooperation between the industry and academia.

Dr Saif Alhadabi, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Head of the National Team for the Project to Improve Oman’s Performance in the Global Innovation Index, said that Oman's progress was driven by several strengths within the national innovation ecosystem.

Dr Alhadabi stated that this rise in the rankings represents an important strategic achievement that can be built upon to further strengthen the national innovation ecosystem in. This is particularly significant at the start of implementing the Eleventh Five-Year Plan which aligns with the goals of Oman Vision 2040.