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AMMAN — The Kingdom rose to 65th place out of 139 countries in the 2025 Global Innovation Index (GII), its best result to date, according to a fact sheet released on Wednesday by the Jordan Economic Forum (JEF).
The Kingdom climbed eight places compared with 2024 and ranked sixth among 13 Arab states, earning a score of 29.7, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
While JEF highlighted this as “evidence of progress,” it also noted the widening gap with leading regional performers such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The forum attributed the improved ranking to recent reforms, including infrastructure upgrades, legislative changes and efforts to make the business climate more attractive.
The forum stressed that human capital and research and development (R&D) remain the weakest areas.
Jordan’s R&D expenditure stands at 0.6 per cent of GDP, well below the global average of 1.9 per cent and the more than 2.5 per cent spent by advanced economies.
The number of researchers is also limited, at around 1,200 per million people, compared with over 4,000 in the EU and more than 7,000 in South Korea.
The results showed improvements in innovation inputs, such as infrastructure and the business environment, along with modest gains in knowledge and technology outputs, supported by “stronger” research productivity and wider use of digital tools.
Creative outputs were largely unchanged, the forum said, underscoring the need for more initiatives to translate ideas into market-ready products and services.
Looking ahead, JEF called for a more comprehensive approach that avoids fragmented efforts.
It recommended embedding innovation targets into the second phase of the Economic Modernisation Vision (2022–2033), with clear benchmarks linked to sector-specific performance indicators.
The forum’s proposals included gradually increasing R&D spending, expanding public-private-academic partnerships, financing applied research with commercial potential, and offering tax incentives for companies investing in innovation.
JEF also urged improvements to patent registration procedures and greater openness to foreign investment in start-ups.
Activating innovative financing tools, such as venture capital funds, was highlighted as a key enabler for start-up growth and global expansion.
JEF also recommended offering tax and investment incentives to enhance such funds, particularly in supporting early-stage projects.
