Morocco is among the most innovative country in North Africa and in the Arab World. However, the country is still making slow progress compared, moving from 76th to 74th in the index's global ranking. Morocco is making slow progress in the 2019 edition of the Global Innovation Index, a report that ranks and measures the innovation performance of 129 countries around the world. Ranked 76th in 2018 by the same index, the Kingdom is 74th in the world in terms of innovation, the same report reveals. Published on Wednesday, July 24, the index conducted by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranks Morocco 11th in the NAWA region, which includes North African and West Asian countries and economies. However, in the Arab World, Morocco is positioned 6th, behind the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. The North African country is also ranked ahead of Bahrain, Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Egypt, Algeria and Yemen. Compared to the previous year, Morocco has managed to slightly better its score in the index, moving from 31.09 to 31.63 points. In North Africa, the Kingdom remains one of the most innovative countries, ranked second in the region. Making slow progress in terms of innovation Talking numbers, Morocco performed the best when it comes to the Institutions sub-index, scoring 61.1 points and ranked 72nd. For Creative outputs, the country is in the 69th place with 26.0 points. The Kingdom is 61st in the world with a score of 48.0 points when it comes to Infrastructure related to innovation. For Knowledge and technology, Rabat has 20.7 points and is positioned 69th. When it comes to the Human Capital Research sub-index, Morocco ranks 75th with 27.8 points. The nation's lowest score is related to Business Sophistication where Morocco had 19.8 points taking the 122th position of the ranking. For Market Sophistication, the Kingdom scored 42.9 points and was ranked 94th. The Global Innovation Index was topped by Switzerland (1st) followed by Sweden (2nd), the United States (3rd), the Netherlands (4th) and the United Kingdom (5th). Based on subjective and objective data collected by the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum, this yearly report ranks countries by their capacity to bring innovation to their economies. It is used by corporate and government officials to compare and determine the level of innovation put forward by every single country. According to the authors of the report, the index's «regional leaders (for this edition) include India, South Africa, Chile, Israel and Singapore, with China, Viet Nam and Rwanda topping their income groups».
