Morocco ranked 54th out of 139 economies in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) Global Innovation Index 2026, the best position the Kingdom has ever achieved. Morocco has climbed 21 places since 2020, driven by the growth of its industrial sector and strong performance in industrial designs, trademarks and high-tech manufacturing.
Morocco ranked 75th in 2020 and 57th in 2025. Its new position means a gain of three places in one year and 21 places in six years.
Morocco also ranked 4th among lower-middle-income economies and 7th in the North Africa and Western Asia region.
The index, now in its 19th edition, is published each year by WIPO, the United Nations agency based in Geneva. It ranks 139 economies using 79 indicators, grouped into two sub-indices. The Innovation Input Sub-Index covers institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication and business sophistication. The Innovation Output Sub-Index covers knowledge and technology outputs and creative outputs.
Industry and intangible assets drive progress
According to WIPO, Morocco’s progress rests mainly on the development of its industrial sector and on its growing use of intangible assets, including industrial designs, trademarks and high-tech activities.
Morocco achieved high global rankings in several sub-indicators linked to production and intangible assets:
- 5th in the world for industrial design applications
- 8th in the world for intangible asset intensity
- 16th in the world for trademarks
- 28th in the world for high-tech manufacturing output
An “innovation overperformer” for the eighth time
WIPO classified Morocco as an “Innovation Overperformer” for the eighth time, meaning its innovation performance is higher than expected given its income per capita and GDP.
This is reflected in the gap between Morocco’s two sub-index rankings. The Kingdom ranked 46th in innovation outputs but 76th in innovation inputs. This shows that Morocco is able to turn the resources it invests into concrete innovation results.
Challenges on the road to the top 40
WIPO noted that Morocco has succeeded in linking its production capacity with intangible assets such as industrial designs and trademarks, and with integration into international markets. However, the organization said that breaking into the top 40 will require Morocco to overcome several structural challenges.
These include:
- Weak private sector investment in research and development (business R&D)
- Limited access to venture capital and scale-up financing for startups
- A pressing need to strengthen partnerships between universities and industry, to speed up technology transfer and turn scientific research into commercial results
The global picture
At the top of the ranking, Switzerland kept first place for the 16th year in a row, followed by Sweden, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. The rest of the top 10 is made up of the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and China. WIPO said stability was one of the main features of this year’s ranking, with no new economy entering the top 15. The income group leaders are Switzerland, China, India and Rwanda.
