KUWAIT CITY, June 14: The Global Skills Index (GSI) 2025, issued by the online learning platform Coursera, showed that Kuwait ranked fifth in the Gulf and 69th globally in terms of overall skills under the ‘Emerging Countries’ category, which includes countries with skill performance score ranging from 25 to 49 percent, reports Al-Rai daily. Kuwait was ranked among the relatively average performing countries in skills in the fields of Business, Technology and Data Science, but lagged in the AI Maturity Index -- a subindex -- where it ranked 72nd globally. Comparing Kuwait’s performance with its Gulf counterparts, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) topped the Arab world, ranking 38th globally; followed by Qatar at 40th, Bahrain at 51st, Saudi Arabia at 54th, and Oman at 75th.

Thus, Kuwait surpassed Oman among Gulf countries in the overall skills ranking, but ranked sixth in the Gulf on the AI Maturity Index. Meanwhile, Switzerland topped the overall ranking, followed by the Netherlands, Sweden, Singapore, and Finland in the top five, reflecting their superior mix of technical, business and Data Science skills.

In contrast, Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia, Venezuela, and Iraq ranked last -- all these countries are suffering from multiple crises in education and technical infrastructure. The report is based on an analysis of data from more than 170 million learners on the Coursera platform, along with external indicators from organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. The GSI is a global benchmark for measuring workforce readiness for digital market demands. It provides comprehensive rankings for more than 109 countries in three main areas: Business, Technology and Data Science, in addition to the new AI Maturity Index. The authors indicate that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies have become the most in-demand skill globally, with enrollment in AI courses increasing by 195 percent in one year. However, the skills gap remains a global challenge, with data from the report confirming that more than two-thirds of employers worldwide consider skills shortages a major barrier to adopting new technologies.