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Bangladesh remains one of the least innovative nations in the world, having been placed in the lower tier of a recent global ranking.
The country was ranked 106th out of 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025, published recently by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO).
Bangladesh's position in the index has improved since 2020, when it was ranked 116th. In 2022, it stood at 102nd.
The index measures innovation performance based on factors such as human capital, research, infrastructure, market sophistication, and knowledge outputs.
However, the report also highlighted Bangladesh as one of the countries that experienced the fastest productivity growth from 2014 to 2024.
"Among the top growers, it is worth mentioning African countries Burkina Faso (4.8%), Kenya (3.3%), and Rwanda (3.3%), as well as Asian countries -- Bangladesh and India at 4.5% and 4.3%, respectively," the report said.
"Such rapid productivity growth is particularly important, given that many of these countries have large populations, making their economic progress crucial for global development and poverty reduction," it added.
Bangladesh's overall innovation score stood at 21.0 points, placing it in the lower-middle-income group, alongside neighbours such as Pakistan (99th) and Nepal (107th).
The GII consists of roughly 80 indicators, grouped into innovation inputs and outputs. It aims to capture the multidimensional aspects of innovation.
According to the report, Bangladesh shows relative strengths in areas like infrastructure, with global position at 90th of the sub-index, creative outputs at 86th and market sophistication at 96th.
On the other hand, it ranked lower in human capital and research at 133rd position and in business sophistication at 129th.
Top 10 countries in the global rank include Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands, Denmark and China.
The bottom five countries in the list include Niger, Angola, Congo, Venezuela and Mali.
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