GII 2026: Malaysia Retains 34th Spot, Score Rises 1.2 Points

PUTRAJAYA, Oct 20 (Bernama) -- Malaysia retained 34th place among 139 economies in the Global Innovation Index 2026 (GII 2026), with its overall score rising 1.2 points to 41.8 from 40.6 last year.

Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Chang Lih Kang said the increase in Malaysia’s overall score reflected progress in the country’s innovation capabilities.

“The priority of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) is to ensure that Malaysia’s strengths in research, talent and technology are translated into greater local intellectual property creation, commercialised research outcomes and globally competitive technology companies,” he said in a statement today.

Chang said Malaysia also ranked second among 35 upper-middle-income economies, behind China, while maintaining its position as the second-ranked country in Southeast Asia, behind Singapore.

He added that the performance reinforced Malaysia’s standing as one of the leading innovation-driven economies among developing nations.

Positive progress was recorded in four of the seven GII pillars compared with 2025, with Institutions rising to 27th place, Infrastructure to 51st, Business Sophistication to 28th and Knowledge and Technology Outputs to 32nd.

Meanwhile, Market Sophistication remained Malaysia’s strongest pillar, ranking 19th globally.

Chang said Malaysia also ranked among the world’s leading economies in several key indicators, placing first in high-technology exports and imports, third in venture capital and creative goods exports, eighth in science and engineering graduates, and ninth in policy stability for business.

He added that Malaysia’s innovation ecosystem was further strengthened by two clusters recognised among the world’s leading innovation hubs, namely the Singapore-Malaysia (Johor Bahru) cross-border cluster, which retained 16th place, and Kuala Lumpur, which ranked 90th in the World’s Top 100 Innovation Clusters for 2026.

In line with the GII 2026 theme, “Powering Entrepreneurs at the Frontier of Science”, Chang said the number of deep-tech start-ups in Malaysia grew by 116.7 per cent between 2020 and 2025.

He said the development demonstrated Malaysia’s potential to expand science- and technology-based companies into regional and global markets.

Chang said that MOSTI would continue to work with ministries, agencies, higher education institutions, research institutions, industry players and funding providers to accelerate technology commercialisation and create more high-growth companies and high-skilled jobs.

He said these efforts were also supported through the coordination of indicators, the setting of annual targets and the implementation of interventions that could be monitored through to 2030.

--BERNAMA