This study examines the factors influencing the growth of academic, technological, and social knowledge in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and Iran. The research employs a qualitative comparative approach, and data analysis was conducted using Bereday’s four-stage model, including description, interpretation, juxtaposition, and comparison. The selected countries were chosen based on the strategy of “similar social systems with different educational outputs.” Data were collected through documentary analysis of primary and secondary sources, including international reports and scholarly articles from reputable databases such as Taylor & Francis, Emerald, Noormags, Magiran, SID, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, OECD, and UNDP. The Global Knowledge Index, developed under the supervision of the United Nations Development Programme, was used to assess various dimensions of knowledge growth. The research findings indicate that the performance of all selected countries in terms of the share of government budget allocated to higher education investment compared to other educational levels, the level of academic freedom, investment in digital services, online commerce, and high‑technology exports is not satisfactory. In terms of social knowledge growth, all countries show strong performance in healthcare services and internet accessibility but face challenges in environmental sustainability. The results also indicate that the UAE prioritizes internationalization of higher education, Saudi Arabia emphasizes gender equality, while Iran and Turkiye focus on quantitative expansion. Iran demonstrates relatively strong educational and research resources but weaker university–industry collaboration. Additionally, the UAE and Saudi Arabia outperform Turkiye and Iran in digital service accessibility, while weaker corruption control in Iran and Turkiye negatively affects their supportive social environments.