Uzbekistan Climbs to 79th Place in 2025 Global Innovation Index

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) — In the 2025 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), Uzbekistan ranked 79th among 139 countries, improving its position by 43 places over the past nine years.

Among 39 lower-middle-income countries, Uzbekistan ranks 7th, alongside Vietnam, Morocco, and Mongolia, and 3rd in the Central and South Asia region after India and Iran.

In the innovation input subindex, which measures investments and resources for innovation, Uzbekistan stands at 69th place, while in the innovation output subindex, it ranks 92nd.

Experts note that the 2025 ranking is based on 78 indicators. Uzbekistan improved in 36 of these, with seven maintaining last year’s results. The most significant gains were recorded in four areas: human capital and research, infrastructure, market development, and knowledge and technology outputs.

Higher education played a key role in the improvement. The performance of Tashkent National Research University of Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization and Mirzo Ulugbek National University of Uzbekistan in the QS rankings positively influenced the country’s indicators. Uzbekistan rose 11 positions in the “average of the three best universities in QS” indicator, reaching 64th place.

Significant progress was also recorded in 10 key indicators:

• High-tech exports (+14 positions)
• Startup and scale-up financing (+13)
• Intellectual property revenues (+17)
• Evaluation of new companies and “unicorns” (+13)
• Export of creative goods (+11)
• University admissions (+20)
• Government spending on education (+10)

For reference, the Global Innovation Index is an authoritative international study that assesses countries’ performance in science, technology, and innovation, covering two subindices and seven main categories with about 80 indicators. Uzbekistan joined the ranking in 2015 and has since climbed 43 positions.