Pakistan moved up four positions to rank 95th among 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index 2026.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) confirmed that Pakistan has regained its status as an innovation overperformer in 2026. The nation previously received recognition as an overperformer in 2022 and 2024. The 2026 index placed Pakistan 72nd in innovation outputs while it ranked 121st in innovation inputs.
The report states that innovation overperformance proves that results do not follow a straight line from income levels. Pakistan secured the 15th position among 36 lower-middle-income economies. The country ranked eighth among 11 economies in Central and Southern Asia.
Historical rankings for Pakistan include 107th in 2020, 99th in 2021, 87th in 2022, 88th in 2023, 91st in 2024, and 99th in 2025. Switzerland held the first position in the 2026 index for the 16th consecutive year. WIPO noted that no new economy entered the top 15 since 2025.
Europe accounted for 14 of the 25 leading innovation economies. The Netherlands rose to seventh place, while Austria climbed to 18th. South Korea and Singapore occupied the fourth and fifth spots, respectively.
China remained at 10th, Japan ranked 12th, and Hong Kong, China, placed 14th. Global research and development intensity stayed near a historic high of 2 percent of GDP. The report expects global growth of around 3.4 percent in 2025 to slow to approximately 3 percent in 2026.
The report attributes the expected slowdown to higher energy prices and elevated uncertainty before a modest recovery in 2027. The organisation stated that the most striking feature of the top ranking is its stability during a period of major geopolitical and economic turbulence.
WIPO warned that a downward revision in expected AI returns could tighten financing conditions beyond the technology sector.
