The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) released the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 on Sept. 16, with Kazakhstan positioned at the 81st spot.
Published annually since 2007, the ranking uses 80 indicators – from research and development (R&D) spending, venture capital deals, to high-tech exports and intellectual property filings – to evaluate how innovative 139 world economies are.
Kazakhstan, which last year ranked 78th, now ranks fourth among the ten economies in Central and Southern Asia, according to the report. The nation also performed above the upper-middle-income group average across such indicators as institutions, human capital and research, and infrastructure.
Dynamics of Kazakhstan’s performance in the ranking between 2020 and 2025. Photo credit: WIPO
Kazakhstan’s top innovation strengths include utility models (a type of intellectual property similar to patents but usually shorter-term, cheaper, and easier to obtain) by origin relative to GDP (8th place), government online services (10th place), and national feature film production per million people aged 15–69 (29th place).
It also maintains strength in domestic market scale (38th), gross capital formation (35th), and high-tech exports (36th)
This year, leading the ranking are Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, South Korea and Singapore. They are followed by the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and China.
The report also indicates that for the first time, Central and Southern Asia has surpassed Latin America and the Caribbean in the regional standings, based on the average score of economies in each region.
“Central and Southern Asia’s performance has been buoyed by economies like India (38th), Uzbekistan (79th) and Kazakhstan (81st), which show improved results across knowledge creation, technological outputs, and human capital development,” reads the report.
Experts note these economies have fostered a “strong culture of technology adoption and entrepreneurship” and are “demonstrating that a focus on innovation outputs – whether through high-tech exports, research linkages or entrepreneurship – can allow an economy to leap ahead in the rankings, even if that economy does not have the most advanced innovation system.”
WIPO Director General Daren Tang said that countries that view innovation as a “fundamental engine of resilience, growth and competitiveness” are observed to perform better in the ranking.
“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. It is a reminder that innovation ecosystems require support and nurturing through thoughtful policies, meaningful investments and cross-sector collaboration,” Tang said.
However, the findings indicate R&D spending growth slowed to 2.9% in 2024, down from 4.4% the previous year and marking its weakest pace since the 2010 financial crisis. WIPO projects a further decline to 2.3% in 2025.
“Corporate R&D spending reached a record $1.3 trillion in 2024. However, growth in nominal terms slowed to 3.2%, or 1% in real terms, far below the 8% average for the past decade,” reads the report.
Yet, the picture varies by sector. ICT companies, especially those in AI-driven industries, along with software and pharmaceutical firms, increased their R&D budgets, while traditional manufacturers, including automakers and consumer goods producers, reduced spending amid steep revenue declines.
The number of venture capital deals dropped 4.4% worldwide, a trend observed for the third consecutive year, which, as experts noted, highlights continued investor caution. Venture capital investment values, however, saw a rebound in 2024, climbing 7.7%, primarily driven by U.S. megadeals and booming interest in generative AI.
Disclaimer: The views, suggestions, and opinions expressed here are the sole responsibility of the experts. No Insta Daily News journalist was involved in the writing and production of this article.