ISLAMABAD: Pakistan rose to 95th place among the 139 economies of the world featured in the ‘ World-wide Innovation Index 2026 ’ published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation ( WIPO), it emerged on Thursday. Advancing in rank from 99th place in 2025, Pakistan also reclaimed its “ overperformer ” status for the fourth time, a status given to economies identified as performing above expectations for their level of economic development. Sources close to the matter say additional details are expected to emerge soon.

Context and History

The issue at hand has deep roots and a history that continues to shape the current situation.

The global index report suggested that Pakistan performed better in innovation outputs than innovation inputs in 2026.

“ The 2026 overperformers show that economies can generate more innovation than expected for their level of development when they build on focused strengths. ” A list of countries that performed above expectations for their level of development in innovation in 2026, as noted by to the Global Innovation Index 2026.

Reports further indicate that — screengrab from WIPO report WIPO highlighted that Pakistan ’ s strengths were concentrated in the digital economy, particularly mobile app creation, ICT services exports, high-tech imports, and software spending.

Reactions and Responses

Reactions from key figures have helped frame what this development could mean.

In the 2026 index, Pakistan ranked 15th among the 36 lower middle-income group economies and eighth among the 11 economies in central and southern Asia.

Meanwhile, sources familiar with the matter indicate that it did not rank among the top innovation clusters in any specific innovation pillar of the index ( including ‘ human capital and research ’, ‘ infrastructure ’, etc).

Of particular significance is the fact that this partial screengrab from WIPO report shows Pakistan ranks 95th overall and does not rank among leading countries in any innovation pillar, in Global Innovation Index 2026.

Policy Implications

Looking at the practical effects, the outlook remains significant and wide-ranging.

The organisation noted, “ In a period of substantial geopolitical and economic turbulence, the most striking feature about the top of the ranking is its stability. ” According to the assessment, the leading economies broadly remain the same as in 2025, with no new economy in the top 15 since last year, and Europe once more accounting for the largest share of the group with 14 economies out of 25 innovation leaders.

Reports further indicate that five Asian economies were also among the top 25: South Korea and Singapore in fourth and fifth place respectively; China remaining 10th — as the only middle-income economy among the innovation leaders — Japan at 12th and Hong Kong, China in 14th place.

Reports further indicate that the report highlighted that the presence of Asian economies was now an “ established feature of the top ranks, rather than a development unique to this year ”.

Significantly, the WIPO assessment identified that the near-term environment was more demanding than the previous year: “ Universal growth of on the subject of 3.4pc in 2025 is expected to ease to around 3pc in 2026, held back by higher energy prices and elevated uncertainty, before recovering modestly in 2027. ” It highlighted that AI-related investment remained “ the main engine on the upside ”, with the largest hyper-scalers set to spend over $ 1 trillion on AI infrastructure across 2025 and 2026.

Of particular significance is the fact that the report noted that emerging economies, including Pakistan, could build on their standout strengths to improve their overall innovation performance.

The Road Ahead

Key actors in this story have not yet issued final statements, and the situation remains fluid. Updates will be reported as they become available, with the expectation that more information will emerge soon.