ASTANA – Kazakhstan has climbed eight places to 73rd among 139 economies in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Global Innovation Index (GII) 2026, marking the country’s best result in the past decade. Kazakhstan ranked first among Central Asian countries and second among 11 economies in Central and Southern Asia.
Among 35 upper-middle-income economies, it placed 17th, the permanent mission of Kazakhstan to the World Trade Organization reported on Sept. 29. The greatest improvement came in innovation outputs, where Kazakhstan rose 11 positions from 84th to 73rd. Its ranking in the Innovation Input Sub-Index also improved, from 75th to 73rd.
The GII 2026 results were presented at WIPO headquarters in Geneva during an advance presentation for Permanent Representatives of WIPO Member States. Kazakhstan’s improved ranking follows systematic engagement between the country’s permanent mission in Geneva and WIPO throughout 2026.
The work focused on specific GII indicators, the methodology used to calculate them and the quality of underlying data. At the permanent mission’s initiative, WIPO experts held an online consultation with relevant government authorities to review Kazakhstan’s indicators, data sources, missing and outdated statistics, and areas requiring further work.
The mission subsequently prepared an analytical assessment with recommendations and shared it with relevant government bodies. The process shifted Kazakhstan’s engagement with WIPO from monitoring its annual ranking to more targeted work on individual indicators, data quality and policy measures.
Further improvement remains possible in areas including research and development expenditure, university-industry collaboration, venture capital, innovation clusters, software, and scientific and technical publications. The permanent mission said it will continue working with WIPO on individual indicators and methodology, with the next objective being to consolidate the progress achieved and further improve Kazakhstan’s position through systematic work on key GII indicators.