Tunisia has risen five places to rank 76th out of 139 economies in the latest Global Innovation Index (GII), according to a report published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). This marks a significant improvement from its 81st place position in the previous year’s ranking.
Tunisia’s performance was buoyed by notable strengths in human capital, where it placed 50th globally, and knowledge and technology outputs, where it ranked 56th. It also scored well in creative outputs, securing the 66th spot.
However, the report highlighted several areas holding back Tunisia’s full innovative potential. Significant challenges remain in its institutional framework (111th), infrastructure (116th), market sophistication (88th), and particularly business sophistication, where it ranked a low 123rd.
A key standout achievement is Tunisia’s world-class performance in education, earning the 2nd global rank for graduates in science and engineering. The country also placed 17th worldwide for the output of scientific and technical articles.
This strong showing has earned Tunisia a return to the prestigious group of “innovation overperformers” for 2025—a designation it held between 2018 and 2023. This classification recognizes economies that achieve significantly higher innovation results than their level of development would predict.
Within its income group of lower-middle-income economies, Tunisia is ranked as one of the most efficient, effectively converting limited inputs into robust and meaningful innovation outputs.
Regionally, Tunisia remains a leader but finds itself in a competitive field. It now trails regional frontrunner Morocco, which broke into the top 60 at 57th place after a jump of nine spots. Tunisia also places ahead of Egypt (86th) and Senegal (89th). In sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa (61st) maintains its regional leadership, while Rwanda (104th), Madagascar (120th), Malawi (125th), and Burundi (127th) were also recognized as top “overperformers.”
TunisianMonitorOnline (NejiMed)
