The UAE ranked 15th out of 70 economies in IMD’s 2026 World Digital and AI Ranking, making it the highest-ranked country in the Middle East and North Africa with a score of 91.13.
The ranking, published by Swiss business school and research institution IMD, evaluates economies across 88 criteria covering governance, technology and infrastructure, efficiency, workforce development and values. The United States took first place, followed by Singapore and the Netherlands.
Although the UAE retained its regional lead, it fell six positions from ninth in the 2025 ranking. Its score also declined from 93.38. The country ranked just behind Norway and ahead of Australia, the UK and Germany.
Saudi Arabia placed second in MENA and 20th globally with 86.55 points, moving up two places from the previous ranking. Qatar ranked 30th, Bahrain 33rd, Oman 36th, Jordan 40th and Kuwait 49th. All seven MENA economies included in the index ranked within the top 50.
Saudi Arabia also ranked second globally for company awareness of AI-related cybersecurity risks and fourth for national AI strategy implementation, corporate AI adoption and public access to AI technologies.
Source: Middle East AI News
