Pakistan Climbs to 95th in Global Innovation Index 2026, Regains Overperformer Status

Pakistan has moved up four places in the Global Innovation Index 2026, ranking 95th out of 139 economies and winning back its status as an innovation “overperformer”, according to the latest report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Pakistan was ranked 99th in last year’s index. WIPO says the country is once again among the economies that produce more innovation than expected for their level of economic development, the fourth time Pakistan has earned this label.

Pakistan in the Global Innovation Index 2026 at a Glance

Where Pakistan Is Strong

According to WIPO’s country profile, Pakistan’s strengths are concentrated in the digital economy. Its best indicator rankings include:

• Mobile app creation: 10th in the world
• ICT services exports: 15th
• High-tech imports: 19th
• Youth demographic dividend: 25th
• Domestic market scale: 26th
• Software spending: 33rd

Both the input and output rankings improved compared with last year. Pakistan performs much better on outputs (what the economy produces, such as apps, software and creative goods) than on inputs (institutions, human capital, infrastructure and business sophistication).

How the Global Innovation Index 2026 Affects You

For Pakistan’s young developers, freelancers and startups, the result confirms that the country’s tech talent is competing at a global level. A 10th-place ranking in mobile app creation shows that Pakistani developers are building and publishing apps at a pace well above what the country’s income level would suggest.

A better innovation ranking can also help when Pakistani companies pitch to foreign investors and clients, as global firms often look at such indexes when choosing where to outsource software work or set up tech operations.

At the same time, the weak ranking on inputs is a warning. It points to gaps in research spending, infrastructure and the wider business environment that need fixing if Pakistan wants to keep climbing.

What the Index Measures

The Global Innovation Index is published every year by WIPO, a United Nations agency. It ranks economies using around 80 indicators covering research, education, infrastructure, markets, business, technology and creative outputs. Switzerland topped the 2026 index for the 16th year in a row, followed by Sweden and the United States, and no new economy entered the top 15 this year.

What Comes Next

Pakistan’s digital strengths are already being backed by government programmes such as laptop and Chromebook schemes for students and IT export targets. Keeping the overperformer status will depend on raising investment in research and skills so that inputs start catching up with outputs. The full country profile is available on the WIPO Global Innovation Index website.

Read More: PM Chromebook Scheme 2026: 500,000 Devices for Top Government Students