Oman Climbs to 69th in Global Innovation Index 2025: Key Wins and Challenges

man has made a noticeable leap in the global innovation landscape, moving up five places in the Global Innovation Index 2025 to reach 69th position out of 139 economies. Last year, Oman ranked 74th.

The Global Innovation Index is released by the World Intellectual Property Organization and measures innovation performance across about 80 indicators. These are divided into two broad categories: innovation inputs, such as infrastructure, human capital, and institutions, and innovation outputs, which include knowledge creation, technology, and creative results.

Strong Areas for Oman

Oman performed better in innovation inputs, where it ranked 55th this year. This shows stronger foundations and supportive policies.

In some sub-indicators, Oman performed impressively and entered the top 20 worldwide. These included economic cluster development at 9th, policy stability for doing business at 10th, graduates in science and engineering at 12th, net foreign direct investment inflows at 14th, ICT access at 15th, and electricity production at 16th.

The country also improved in several key pillars. Its institutions pillar ranked 40th, improving by three places. The infrastructure pillar rose by eight places to 55th. The business sophistication pillar recorded the biggest leap, moving up 23 places to reach 63rd.

In specific sub-indicators, Oman made remarkable progress. There was a 60-place jump in patents filed by origin relative to GDP, a 22-place rise in high-tech manufacturing, and a 21-place improvement in both capital formation and foreign investment inflows. Knowledge production climbed by 20 places, and academic-industry research collaboration improved by five places.

Areas of Weakness

Despite these successes, Oman still faces challenges. Its ranking for innovation outputs was much lower at 89th. This highlights a gap between the resources and inputs being built and the actual innovative products and solutions being created.

Two of the weakest areas were low-carbon energy use, where Oman ranked 127th, and industrial designs relative to GDP, where it stood at 121st. These results show that while the country is building capacity, it needs to convert this into stronger performance in sustainability, creative industries, and industrial innovation.

Why It Matters

Oman’s progress is closely tied to the goals of Oman Vision 2040, which aims to diversify the economy and strengthen knowledge-based industries. The improvements highlight the government’s focus on:

• boosting research and development

• supporting incubators and innovation centres

• strengthening science and engineering education

• building better infrastructure for technology and investment

• creating stable policies to encourage business and entrepreneurship

At the same time, the results make clear that Oman must focus on converting strong inputs into visible outputs. This means more patents, more industrial designs, better adoption of clean energy technologies, and stronger commercialisation of research.

The Road Ahead

For investors and entrepreneurs, Oman’s rise is a positive signal. The country is creating a stable and welcoming environment with stronger infrastructure and global recognition. If Oman can bridge the gap between its growing inputs and relatively weaker outputs, it can rise further in the coming years.

For policymakers, the challenge is to turn education, infrastructure, and policy reforms into real-world results. More emphasis on renewable energy, creative industries, and research-based entrepreneurship will help Oman transform its progress into long-term global competitiveness.

Conclusion

Oman’s climb to 69th place in the Global Innovation Index 2025 is a promising sign that its innovation ecosystem is moving in the right direction. The results prove that investments in education, infrastructure, and policy reform are starting to show impact. The next step is ensuring these efforts create tangible outcomes that benefit the economy and society.