Kazakhstan has made significant progress in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Global Innovation Index (GII) 2026, rising by eight positions, from 81st to 73rd place among 139 economies worldwide. This marks Kazakhstan’s best performance in the past 10 years.
At the regional level, Kazakhstan ranked 1st among Central Asian countries and 2nd among the 11 economies of Central and Southern Asia. Among the 35 upper-middle-income economies, Kazakhstan ranked 17th. The most notable improvement was recorded in innovation outputs. Kazakhstan’s ranking in the Innovation Output Sub-Index rose by 11 positions, from 84th to 73rd place, while its ranking in the Innovation Input Sub-Index improved from 75th to 73rd place.
The GII 2026 results were presented at WIPO headquarters in Geneva as part of an advance presentation of the Index for Permanent Representatives of Member States.
Kazakhstan’s improved ranking was preceded by systematic work at both the national and international levels. Throughout 2026, the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Geneva established direct engagement with WIPO on GII-related matters, focusing on specific indicators, the methodology used to calculate them, and the quality of the underlying data.
This work made it possible to shift Kazakhstan’s engagement with WIPO from the annual monitoring of its ranking to substantive work on specific indicators, data sources and the policy measures required to improve performance.
Despite the progress achieved, further improvement remains possible in areas such as research and development expenditure, university-industry collaboration, venture capital, the development of innovation clusters, software, and scientific and technical publications.
