- Research also suggests GCC can accelerate GDP growth from 3.5% to 6.0% over the next 10 years
- Four GCC countries (UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar) are in the global Top 10 for ‘physical capital’, demonstrating the positive ripple effects of infrastructure investments on productivity and economic growth
UAE, 11 February 2025: The World Governments Summit unveiled the second edition of the Productivity Potential Index (PPI), created in collaboration with Strategy& Middle East, part of the PwC network. This latest edition builds on last year’s launch by expanding its scope to include 60 countries, up from 25, offering an even more comprehensive look at what drives productivity in today’s world.
With its innovative framework, the PPI redefines how productivity is measured, integrating dimensions critical for our age such as environmental sustainability, wellbeing, innovation, and institutional quality. The report estimates the untapped potential of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies, showing how improving their weakest productivity determinants could accelerate regional GDP growth from 3.5% to 6.0%, adding $2.8 trillion to the region’s GDP over the next decade. Overall, if all countries in the PPI sample were to improve their weakest productivity indicator to match that of the best-performing peers, it could boost the global economy by $87 trillion.
Regionally, Saudi Arabia leads among the GCC countries with the PPI score of $69.3 per hour worked, followed by Kuwait ($60.8), Qatar ($57.2), and Bahrain ($56.9). The UAE scored $48.7 per hour worked in the analysis[1].
Notably, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE rank among the global Top 10 in the ‘physical capital’ pillar, adding $22-24 per hour worked to their productivity potential. Physical capital refers to reliable infrastructure, well-maintained equipment, and appropriately applied technologies that all contribute to better productivity. GCC’s success demonstrates how targeted policies and investments in manufacturing, logistics and internet infrastructure can drive rapid growth across sectors.
A Game-Changer for Productivity
Productivity has long been the engine of modern economies, influencing global competitiveness, quality of life, and long-term prosperity. Yet traditional measures often fall short, failing to capture the complexity of 21st-century challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, social transformation, and aging populations. These outdated tools also look backward, analyzing past performance rather than identifying future opportunities.
The Potential Productivity Index is a forward-looking, transformative tool that enables nations to understand their true productivity potential and pinpoint the drivers that can unlock it. The PPI expands traditional metrics—human capital, physical capital, and innovation—to include social capital, natural capital, and institutional quality, offering leaders a modern lens through which to tackle today’s challenges.
Dima Sayess, partner at Strategy& Middle East and director of the Ideation Center, emphasized the transformative potential of the findings: “ Our analysis shows that non-traditional measures of productivity are shaping the direction of change regionally and globally. Social trust, the quality of institutions and environmental indicators all play a role in driving, or hindering, economic growth. Understanding these mechanisms can enable policymakers to develop effective and targeted solutions.”
A Future-Ready Index for a Changing World
The PPI stands out as a cutting-edge tool for three key reasons:
- Pinpoints Strengths and Weaknesses: Countries can easily identify areas where they excel and where they lag.
- Focus on Game Changers: It highlights the most impactful levers for productivity and growth, using benchmarks from top-performing nations.
- Actionable Pathways: The Index offers policymakers a clear roadmap to close gaps, leapfrog performance, and reach the levels of the world’s most productive economies.
Powered by a machine-learning model, the PPI combines advanced analytics with the latest academic insights on productivity. Its robustness has been rigorously tested by leading international economists, ensuring its credibility and relevance.
“The Productivity Potential Index offers policymakers critical insights and a practical tool to identify and focus on the areas with the greatest potential to boost productivity, and subsequently their economic growth,” said Chadi Moujaes, partner with Strategy& Middle East.
Key Insights from the 2025 Report
The report reveals significant opportunities and trends:
- ‘Beyond GDP’ Alignment: The PPI aligns with the Beyond GDP movement, showcasing how growth and innovation increasingly intersect with decarbonization and social cohesion. This makes the PPI an invaluable tool for driving progress toward the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the 2030 Agenda.
- Effective Governance Drives Productivity: Well-functioning institutions support thriving entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystems, whilst ensuring efficient use of natural, human, and intellectual capital. Traditional measures of productivity often neglect the importance of institutional quality, which is why this new evidence is so critical for policymakers.
- Spotlight on STEM: While human capital and physical capital are the foundational pillars for all countries when it comes to productivity, scientific research and new patents differentiate productivity potential “winners” from other economies. We expect this global shift towards knowledge-driven growth to continue.
Interactive Tools for Insightful Decisions
This edition features an online policy simulator which allows users to compare the performance of 60 countries across 19 indicators. The tool provides actionable insights, answering the critical question: “What could a country’s productivity look like if it fully optimized its resources and capabilities?”
Knowledge Partners
The World Governments Summit has engaged in knowledge partnerships with a selection of the most prominent consulting firms and global research institutions, including Strategy& Middle East, to launch a series of reports and studies that will identify the most important trends and opportunities for governments to focus on the next phase, and for them to enhance their readiness for the future in a post-pandemic world. The reports focus on anticipating the future of governments around the world, studying global transformations and challenges facing the world, setting priorities and requirements for the next phase, and developing new work mechanisms and methodologies based on modern data to empower the next generation of governments. To download the report, “The next wave of growth:
How to unlock $87 trillion in global productivity gains” and use the interactive policy simulator to compare country productivity performance, please visit the following link: https://ppi.worldgovernmentssummit.org/
*Note to Editors: Productivity Potential Index (PPI) Rankings of GCC Countries
| GCC Country | PPI Score ($) | GCC Rank | Global Rank |
| Saudi Arabia | 69.3 | 1 | 21 |
| Kuwait | 60.8 | 2 | 24 |
| Qatar | 57.2 | 3 | 28 |
| Bahrain | 56.9 | 4 | 29 |
| United Arab Emirates | 48.7 | 5 | 39 |
| Oman | 39.8 | 6 | 44 |
[1] The Productivity Potential Index (PPI) score refers to how each country in the sample is currently positioned to improve its productivity in the future; it is not a measure of a country’s current productivity.