Leading Arab world for the 7th consecutive year

UAE maintains its regional leadership in Global Innovation Index 2022 & moves up two places to rank 31st globally

H.E. Bin Touq: As we continue our efforts to develop sectors that support innovation & creativity, the distinguished results of the index confirm the synergy & success of integrated national efforts

The UAE has maintained its position on the Global Innovation Index 2022 as it topped the Arab world for the seventh year in a row. The country has also moved up two spots on the general classification of the index this year to rank 31st globally, thus preserving its regional leadership and surpassing several other leading global economies.

The Global Innovation Index ranks world economies based on their innovation capabilities. It consists of two main components, innovation inputs and innovation outputs, from which several sub-indicators and axes branch out. The UAE has climbed five spots in innovation inputs this year compared to its last year position to rank 18th globally. This reflects the continuous development in the country's ability to turn investments in innovation and creativity landscape into tangible results and outputs that support its development and global economic competitiveness.

H.E. Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said: “The outstanding results achieved by the UAE on the Global Innovation Index 2022 reflect the soundness of the forward-looking vision adopted by the country under its wise leadership’s directives. It confirms the success of concerted and integrated national efforts at the federal and local levels and continuous dialogue between the public, private and academic sectors.”

He pointed out that the pioneering initiatives launched by the government as part of the objectives and Projects of the 50 have played an integral role in developing the UAE’s innovation environment, enhancing its ability to attract talent and competencies in various business sectors. This has helped consolidate the UAE’s position as a leading regional and global destination in the fields of innovation and new economy sectors.

H.E. Bin Touq added: “Entrepreneurship, intellectual property, R&D and technology sectors are key to driving innovation in the UAE as they are the main drivers of competitiveness and sustainable economic growth. Therefore, we will continue working on developing these sectors in a way that establishes a culture of creativity and innovation as the foundations for building an innovative knowledge-based society and developing businesses based on creativity, modern inventions and technology in the country.”

The Minister of Economy further pointed out that the UAE has launched many strategies to enable and promote technology adoption, AI, smart applications and entrepreneurship in various economic sectors. These include the UAE Artificial Intelligence Strategy, the UAE Digital Government Strategy, the UAE Strategy for Fourth Industrial Revolution, Smart Dubai Strategy, and Dubai Metaverse Strategy. Moreover, the country has managed to achieve outstanding progress through these initiatives in support of its vision to create an innovative and globally leading environment. The index recognizes the progress made by the country in this regard under the indicator Institutions and Infrastructure Innovation, where the UAE ranks among top seven globally.

Most notably, the UAE has demonstrated exceptional performance that exceeded the average recorded for high-income countries in five of the seven sub-indicators that make up the Global Innovation Index. These are:

1. Institutions, where the UAE ranked sixth globally, climbing 24 spots from last year. This indicator includes political, regulatory, and business environments as sub-indicators.
2. Infrastructure, where the UAE ranked seventh globally, advancing by seven ranks compared to 2021.
3. Human Capital and Research, where the UAE ranked 17^th
4. Market Sophistication, where the UAE ranked 23^rd globally, advancing three ranks compared to last year.
5. Business Sophistication, where the UAE ranked 26^th

Furthermore, the UAE has enhanced its position globally by ranking first across a number of sub-indicators of the Global Innovation Index, in addition to advanced rankings among the top 10 countries globally in a number of other indicators, most notably:

• 1^st ranking globally in five indicators: Cost of Redundancy Dismissal, Business Environment, Entrepreneurship Policies and Culture, Tertiary Education, Tertiary Inbound Mobility.
• Second ranking globally in the Research Talent Percentage in Business.
• Third ranking globally in ICT Access.
• Fourth globally in General Infrastructure.
• Fifth globally in Gross Expenditure on R&D, Percentage GDP>
• Sixth globally in Policies for Doing Business.
• Seventh globally in General Infrastructure.
• Eighth in Electricity Output, GWH/MN POP.