Bangladesh ranks 106th, lags behind S Asian peers

Staff Reporter :

Bangladesh has been ranked 106th out of 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The position reflects a modest change from previous years, but it underlines both strengths and weaknesses in the country’s innovation landscape when compared with the rest of the world and with South Asian peers, report released on September 16.

The index shows that Bangladesh performs better in innovation outputs than inputs. It ranks 115th in inputs, which include institutions, human capital, education and business sophistication, but rises to 95th in outputs, covering creative industries and knowledge and technology products.
The strongest pillars for Bangladesh are creative outputs at 86th, infrastructure at 90th, market sophistication at 96th and knowledge and technology outputs at 99th. By contrast, its weakest areas remain human capital and research at 133rd, business sophistication at 129th and institutions at 109th.

This imbalance highlights that the country is managing to generate some results despite inadequate foundations, yet it risks stalling without stronger investment in the basics.
On the global scale, Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Singapore dominate the top rankings, combining robust innovation inputs with world-leading outputs.

Within South Asia, India stands out as the clear leader, securing the 38th spot globally and ranking first among lower-middle income economies. Its strengths in ICT services, exports, and a growing technology ecosystem contrast sharply with Bangladesh’s weaker performance.
According to GII, the overall innovation of Bangladesh score stood at 21.0 points, placing it in the lower-middle-income group, alongside neighbours such as Pakistan (99th) and Nepal (107th).
While India is steadily climbing the global ladder, Bangladesh remains at the lower tier of the index, behind not only India but also Sri Lanka in certain indicators.

Bangladesh’s position suggests that although the country has made some creative and infrastructural strides, its chronic weaknesses in education, research capacity, business sophistication and institutional quality continue to hold it back from competing more effectively in the region.

The findings point to an urgent need for Bangladesh to improve its innovation inputs if it hopes to move up the rankings.

Greater investment in research and development, stronger support for higher education in science and technology, a more innovation-friendly business climate, and better governance in institutions are essential.

Without progress in these areas, the country risks falling further behind its neighbours in South Asia and missing opportunities in the global economy.

The countries that experienced the fastest productivity growth from 2014 to 2024 were China (at 5.9 percent), Viet Nam (5.4 percent) and Ethiopia (5 percent), all annualized rates. Among the top growers it is worth mentioning African countries Burkina Faso (at 4.8 percent), Kenya (3.3 percent) and Rwanda (3.3 percent), as well as Asian countries Bangladesh and India at 4.5 and 4.3 percent, respectively.
Such rapid productivity growth is particularly important, given that many of these countries have large populations and their economic progress therefore crucial for global development and poverty reduction.
According to the index, Bangladesh’s position has improved since 2020, when it was ranked 116th. In 2022, it stood at 102nd.
The GII consists of roughly 80 indicators, grouped into innovation inputs and outputs aiming to capture the multidimensional aspects of innovation around the globe.