Iran ranks 70th worldwide in 2025 innovation index; excels in domestic market, patents
The latest 2025 Global Innovation Index (GII) showed that Iran ranks 70th among 139 countries worldwide, while achieving notable positions in specific indicators such as “domestic market size” at 8th and “patents relative to GDP” at 14th.
In an interview with ISNA, Amir Abbas Mohammadi Koushki, an expert on the United Nations Innovation Committee said, “The Global Innovation Index (GII), published annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), evaluated the position of the Islamic Republic of Iran among 139 countries in 2025. Based on the report, Iran ranked 70th globally in 2025.”
The head of Iran’s national inventions and innovation team added that Iran’s innovation inputs ranked 109th, while outputs ranked 46th. “In other words, Iran has the capacity to produce innovative and creative outputs, but structurally it is weak in creating the necessary inputs and infrastructure for innovation,” Koushki explained.
With a population of 91.6 million and a GDP based on purchasing power parity of $1,698.5 billion, Iran is classified as an upper-middle-income country, he said. The country’s per capita GDP is estimated at $19,606. In the GII 2025 among 36 upper-middle-income countries, Iran ranks 17th, and among the 10 economies of Central and South Asia, Iran is in 2nd place.
Analytical report
Also, Arnoush Shakeri, professor of Technology Management at the Science and Research Unit of Azad University, told ISNA that with a score of 28.5, the country has performed strongly in several indicators despite an average overall rank. These include domestic market size (8th globally), patents by origin (14th), scientific and technical articles (28th), knowledge impact (24th), and high-tech imports (23rd).