Oman ranks first in West Asia in Open Data
MUSCAT: The Sultanate of Oman has secured the top position in West Asia and ninth globally in open data, according to a report by the Open Data Watch, which oversees an index assessing the availability of open data on national statistical institutions' websites. The organisation is independent and recognised by the United Nations Statistical Commission.
The report highlighted Oman's significant progress, climbing ten spots in 2024 compared to 2022. The country now ranks ninth out of 197 nations worldwide, up from 19th out of 195 in 2022, achieving a score of 84 points in 2024 compared to 74 points two years ago.
Oman ranked third globally in data openness, with the 2024 Open Data Inventory report evaluating the country's open data across three key sectors: social, economic and environmental data, encompassing 22 thematic areas.
The report underscored Oman's excellence in several statistical fields, achieving full marks (100 points) in population and vital statistics, health infrastructure, foreign trade, money and banking; and openness indicators such as machine-readable data, non-proprietary formats and open licensing.
Data coverage also improved significantly, with Omani economic statistics showing notable progress — rising from 65 points in 2022 to 77 points in 2024. This enhancement stemmed from strengthened databases in money and banking, foreign trade and balance of payments, all scoring 100 in coverage. Price indices surged from 50 to 88 points.
Oman's economic statistics score rose from 76 in 2022 to 89 in 2024, driven primarily by improvements in money and banking statistics, which jumped from 75 to 100 points. Price index databases also saw an increase, from 72 to 94 points.
The report noted that statistical frameworks for foreign trade scored 100 points, balance of payments 94 points and labour force data 90 points.
Oman achieved higher openness and coverage values across most statistical sectors available to users via its data portal. Progress was particularly evident in social statistics, with the overall sector score rising to 83 points last year from 74 in 2022, thanks to enhanced population, vital statistics and health infrastructure databases — both scoring a perfect 100.
The report classified Oman among the over 80% of countries that improved their performance, while the global index saw its highest growth since inception at 12.5%. Oman emerged as a regional leader in developing and disseminating official data in line with international best practices.
The National Centre for Statistics and Information reaffirmed its commitment to supporting open data policies and enhancing data readiness for research and planning purposes, contributing to evidence-based decision-making and supporting Oman's renewed renaissance. — ONA
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