GII 2023 at a glance

The Global Innovation Index

2023 captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of
132 economies and tracks
the most recent global
innovation trends.
 18 Global leaders in innovation,
2023

Top three innovation economies by region

Latin America Sub-Saharan Africa* Northern Africa and South East Asia,
and the Caribbean Western Asia† East Asia, and Oceania

1. Brazil 1. South Africa 1. Israel 1. Singapore

2. Chile 2. Botswana 2. United Arab Emirates 2. Republic of Korea
3. Mexico 3. Senegal 3. Türkiye 3. China

Northern America Europe Central and

Southern Asia

1. United States 1. Switzerland 1. India

2. Canada 2. Sweden 2. Iran (Islamic
3. United Kingdom Republic of)
3. Kazakhstan

Indicates a new entrant into the top three in 2023.

Indicates movement in ranking (up or down) within the top three, relative to 2022.
* Top three in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) – excluding island economies. The top five within the region, including all economies, comprise Mauritius
(1st), South Africa (2nd), Botswana (3rd), Cabo Verde (4th) and Senegal (5th).
† Top three in Northern Africa and Western Asia (NAWA) – excluding island economies. The top four within the region, including all economies,
comprise Israel (1st), Cyprus (2nd), United Arab Emirates (3rd) and Türkiye (4th).

Top three innovation economies by income group

High-income Upper middle-income Lower middle-income Low-income

1. Switzerland 1. China 1. India 1. Rwanda

2. Sweden 2. Malaysia 2. Viet Nam 2. Madagascar
Global Innovation Index 2023

3. United States 3. Bulgaria 3. Ukraine 3. Togo

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.

Notes: World Bank Income Group Classification (July 2022). Year-on-year changes in GII rank are influenced by performance and methodological
considerations. Some economy data are incomplete (see Appendix I).
Global Innovation Index  19

2023 rankings

Income Income
GII group Region GII group Region
rank Economy Score rank rank rank Economy Score rank rank
1 Switzerland 67.6 1 1 67 Bahrain 29.1 46 9
2 Sweden 64.2 2 2 68 Mongolia 28.8 7 13
3 United States 63.5 3 1 69 Oman 28.4 47 10
4 United Kingdom 62.4 4 3 70 Morocco 28.4 8 11
5 Singapore 61.5 5 1 71 Jordan 28.2 16 12
6 Finland 61.2 6 4 72 Armenia 28.0 17 13
7 Netherlands (Kingdom of the) 60.4 7 5 73 Argentina 28.0 18 6
8 Germany 58.8 8 6 74 Costa Rica 27.9 19 7
9 Denmark 58.7 9 7 75 Montenegro 27.8 20 36
10 Republic of Korea 58.6 10 2 76 Peru 27.7 21 8
11 France 56.0 11 8 77 Bosnia and Herzegovina 27.1 22 37
12 China 55.3 1 3 78 Jamaica 27.1 23 9
13 Japan 54.6 12 4 79 Tunisia 26.9 9 14
14 Israel 54.3 13 1 80 Belarus 26.8 24 38
15 Canada 53.8 14 2 81 Kazakhstan 26.7 25 3
16 Estonia 53.4 15 9 82 Uzbekistan 26.2 10 4
17 Hong Kong, China 53.3 16 5 83 Albania 25.4 26 39
18 Austria 53.2 17 10 84 Panama 25.3 48 10
19 Norway 50.7 18 11 85 Botswana 24.6 27 3
20 Iceland 50.7 19 12 86 Egypt 24.2 11 15
21 Luxembourg 50.6 20 13 87 Brunei Darussalam 23.5 49 14
22 Ireland 50.4 21 14 88 Pakistan 23.3 12 5
23 Belgium 49.9 22 15 89 Azerbaijan 23.3 28 16
24 Australia 49.7 23 6 90 Sri Lanka 23.3 13 6
25 Malta 49.1 24 16 91 Cabo Verde 23.3 14 4
26 Italy 46.6 25 17 92 Lebanon 23.2 15 17
27 New Zealand 46.6 26 7 93 Senegal 22.5 16 5
28 Cyprus 46.3 27 2 94 Dominican Republic 22.4 29 11
29 Spain 45.9 28 18 95 El Salvador 21.8 17 12
30 Portugal 44.9 29 19 96 Namibia 21.8 30 6
31 Czech Republic 44.8 30 20 97 Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 21.4 18 13
32 United Arab Emirates 43.2 31 3 98 Paraguay 21.4 31 14
33 Slovenia 42.2 32 21 99 Ghana 21.3 19 7
34 Lithuania 42.0 33 22 100 Kenya 21.2 20 8
35 Hungary 41.3 34 23 101 Cambodia 20.8 21 15
36 Malaysia 40.9 2 8 102 Trinidad and Tobago 20.7 50 15
37 Latvia 39.7 35 24 103 Rwanda 20.6 1 9
38 Bulgaria 39.0 3 25 104 Ecuador 20.5 32 16
39 Türkiye 38.6 4 4 105 Bangladesh 20.2 22 7
40 India 38.1 1 1 106 Kyrgyzstan 20.2 23 8
41 Poland 37.7 36 26 107 Madagascar 19.1 2 10
42 Greece 37.5 37 27 108 Nepal 18.8 24 9
43 Thailand 37.1 5 9 109 Nigeria 18.4 25 11
44 Croatia 37.1 38 28 110 Lao People’s Democratic Republic 18.3 26 16
45 Slovakia 36.2 39 29 111 Tajikistan 18.3 27 10
46 Viet Nam 36.0 2 10 112 Côte d’Ivoire 18.2 28 12
47 Romania 34.7 40 30 113 United Republic of Tanzania 17.4 29 13
48 Saudi Arabia 34.5 41 5 114 Togo 16.9 3 14
49 Brazil 33.6 6 1 115 Nicaragua 16.9 30 17
50 Qatar 33.4 42 6 116 Honduras 16.7 31 18
51 Russian Federation 33.3 7 31 117 Zimbabwe 16.5 32 15
52 Chile 33.3 43 2 118 Zambia 16.4 4 16
53 Serbia 33.1 8 32 119 Algeria 16.1 33 18
54 North Macedonia 33.0 9 33 120 Benin 16.0 34 17
55 Ukraine 32.8 3 34 121 Uganda 16.0 5 18
56 Philippines 32.2 4 11 122 Guatemala 15.8 33 19
57 Mauritius 32.1 10 1 123 Cameroon 15.3 35 19
58 Mexico 31.0 11 3 124 Burkina Faso 14.5 6 20
59 South Africa 30.4 12 2 125 Ethiopia 14.3 7 21
60 Republic of Moldova 30.3 13 35 126 Mozambique 13.6 8 22
61 Indonesia 30.3 5 12 127 Mauritania 13.5 36 23
Global Innovation Index 2023

62 Iran (Islamic Republic of) 30.1 6 2 128 Guinea 13.3 9 24

63 Uruguay 30.0 44 4 129 Mali 12.9 10 25
64 Kuwait 29.9 45 7 130 Burundi 12.5 11 26
65 Georgia 29.9 14 8 131 Niger 12.4 12 27
66 Colombia 29.4 15 5 132 Angola 10.3 37 28

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, High-income Europe South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
WIPO, 2023. Upper middle-income Northern America Northern Africa and Western Asia
Note: For an explanation of classifications, Lower middle-income Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa
see Economy profiles, endnote 1. Low-income the Caribbean Central and Southern Asia
 20 Innovation performance
at different income levels,
2023

High-income group Upper middle-income group Lower middle-income group Low-income group

Switzerland China India Rwanda

Sweden Thailand Viet Nam Madagascar
United States Brazil Ukraine Burundi
United Kingdom North Macedonia Philippines
Finland South Africa Indonesia
Netherlands (Kingdom of the) Republic of Moldova Mongolia
Performance above Germany Jordan Morocco
expectation for level of
development Denmark Jamaica Tunisia
Republic of Korea Uzbekistan
France Pakistan
Japan Senegal
Israel
Canada
Estonia

Singapore Malaysia Iran (Islamic Republic of) Togo

Hong Kong, China Bulgaria Egypt Zambia
Austria Türkiye Sri Lanka Uganda
Norway Serbia Cabo Verde Burkina Faso
Iceland Mauritius Lebanon Mozambique
Belgium Mexico El Salvador Niger
Australia Georgia Bolivia (Plurinational State of)
Malta Colombia Ghana
Italy Armenia Kenya
New Zealand Peru Cambodia
Performance in line with Cyprus Bosnia and Herzegovina Bangladesh
level of development
Spain Albania Kyrgyzstan
Portugal Namibia Nepal
Czech Republic Nigeria
Slovenia Tajikistan
Lithuania United Republic of Tanzania
Hungary Zimbabwe
Latvia
Greece
Croatia
Chile

Luxembourg Russian Federation Lao People’s Democratic Republic Ethiopia

Ireland Argentina Côte d’Ivoire Guinea
United Arab Emirates Costa Rica Nicaragua Mali
Poland Montenegro Honduras
Slovakia Belarus Algeria
Romania Kazakhstan Benin
Saudi Arabia Botswana Cameroon
All other Qatar Azerbaijan Mauritania
economies
Uruguay Dominican Republic Angola
Kuwait Paraguay
Bahrain Ecuador
Oman Guatemala
Global Innovation Index 2023

Panama
Brunei Darussalam
Trinidad and Tobago

Source: Global Innovation Index Database, WIPO, 2023.

Key takeaways  21

The GII 2023 tracks global innovation trends against a background of uncertainty caused by
slow economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, high interest rates and geopolitical
conflict, but with the promise of Digital Age and Deep Science innovation waves and
technological progress.

Results of the Global Innovation Tracker 2023

1. Innovation investments showed a mixed performance in 2022 within a context of many

challenges and a downturn in innovation finance. The outlook for 2023 and 2024 is uncertain.

After a boom in 2021, investments in innovation showed a mixed performance in 2022. Scientific
publications, R&D, venture capital (VC) deals and patents continued to increase to higher than
ever. However, growth rates were lower than the exceptional increases seen in 2021. In addition,
the value of VC investment declined and international patent filings stagnated in 2022.

– Scientific publications grew moderately in 2022 by 1.5 percent to around 2 million articles, as
health- and COVID-related research, which caused a boom in 2021, slowed.
– Global R&D grew strongly at a rate of 5.2 percent in 2021 – close to pre-pandemic growth in
2019; business R&D grew strongly by 7 percent – a rate unseen since 2014. Data for 2022 are
not yet available.
– Global government R&D budgets are expected to have grown in real terms in 2022.
Significant increases in real 2022 budgets were planned for Japan and the Republic of Korea,
and a smaller one for Germany, making up for cuts in R&D budgets in 2022 by other top R&D
spending governments such the United States.
– Worldwide R&D expenditure by the highest R&D spending corporations reached
USD 1.1 trillion in 2022 – a historic high. Top corporate R&D spenders increased expenditure
nominally by around 7.4 percent in 2022 (down from 15 percent growth in 2021). Yet, it
is hard to assess whether this nominal growth compensated for surging inflation. On a
positive note, the ratio of R&D expenditure to revenue is on par with 2021 and at pre-
pandemic level – meaning corporations are just as R&D-intensive as ever.
– Reflecting a deteriorating climate for risk finance, the value of VC investments declined
sharply in 2022 from an exceptionally high level in 2021. Nevertheless, the number of VC
deals still grew healthily in 2022 by close to 17.6 percent – reflecting activity that remained
strong in the first half of the year. Asia Pacific is now, for the first time, on par with Northern
America in terms of deal activity. However, total VC value fell sharply in 2022 by close to
40 percent. The only region not to see a decline in dollars invested was Africa, albeit at
low levels. All in all, the VC outlook for 2023 and 2024 is uncertain, with tighter monetary
conditions likely to continue impacting innovation finance.
– International patent filings stagnated in 2022 (0.3 percent growth), recording the slowest
rate of increase since 2009, but still achieving a record of around 280,000 filings.

2. Technological progress is rampant, without many setbacks; technology adoption is

growing, but the socioeconomic impact remains weak

– Indicators of technological progress in the fields of information technology, health and

energy continue to show progress – the Digital Age and Deep Science innovation waves
outlined in GII 2022 are well underway. Supercomputers are becoming faster and more
energy efficient. The cost of genome sequencing and low-emission energy technologies,
such as wind and solar power, are decreasing. Due to the price volatility of required inputs,
the cost of electric batteries rose sharply in 2022, although the long-term trend is still
downward. Having peaked in 2020, drug approvals in the United States fell in 2022 for the
second year in a row.
Global Innovation Index 2023

– With one exception, technology adoption is developing positively: safe sanitation,

connectivity, robots and electric vehicles are now more widespread, even though
penetration for some technologies remains low (e.g., electric vehicles). The adoption of
radiotherapy for cancer treatment also remains inadequate in many countries.
– The socioeconomic impact of innovation continues to be at a low point for the second year in
a row, in part due to the short-term impact of COVID-19. Labor productivity is currently at
a standstill. Life expectancy fell for a second consecutive year, while the increase in healthy
 22 life expectancy slowed. Carbon dioxide emissions rose strongly in 2021, but less so in 2022.
Although the first four months of 2023 point to only a modest rise, CO2 emissions continue to
increase. If this trend persists, there is no global reduction in CO2 emissions on the horizon.

Global Innovation Tracker Dashboard

Science and Scientific R&D Venture capital Venture capital International

innovation publications investments deal numbers deal values patent filings
investment
Technological Computing Costs of Electric Cost of genome Drug approvals
progress power renewable battery price sequencing
energy

Technology Safe sanitation Connectivity Robots Electric vehicles Cancer

adoption radiotherapy
Socioeconomic Labor productivity Life expectancy Carbon dioxide emissions
impact

Results of the Global Innovation Index 2023 rankings

The GII 2023 is unique in incorporating a significant amount of data from the pandemic and
post-pandemic years. Country-specific policy responses to the pandemic, including differences
in lockdowns, but also more recently the effects of armed conflict, have inevitably had a
multifaceted effect on the innovation rankings that requires close scrutiny.

3. Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom and Singapore lead; China,
Türkiye, India, Viet Nam, the Philippines, Indonesia and the Islamic Republic of Iran are the
middle-income economies making most headway in innovation over the last decade

– Switzerland – for a 13th year – ranks first in the GII 2023. Sweden is now 2nd and the United
States 3rd, followed by the United Kingdom (4th) and Singapore (5th), which enters the top 5.
– Finland (6th) moves closer to the top 5, and every other Nordic (Denmark 9th and Sweden)
and Baltic (Estonia, 16th, Lithuania 34th and Latvia 37th) economy is also on an upward trend,
except for Iceland, which stays stable at 20th position.
– China – still the sole middle-income economy within the GII top 30, having entered the top
echelon in 2014 – is ranked 12th in GII2023, while Japan is 13th.
– Israel (14th) makes it into the top 15.
– Saudi Arabia (48th), Brazil (49th) and Qatar (50th) make it into the top 50, and South Africa (59th)
into the top 60.
– Indonesia (61st) joins China, Türkiye (39th), India (40th), Viet Nam (46th), the Philippines (56th),
and the Islamic Republic of Iran (62nd) in the group of middle-income economies within the
GII top 65. This is the group that has climbed the GII rankings fastest over the last decade.
– Outside the top 65 but within the top 100, the following middle- and low-income countries
have progressed the most – by more than 20 ranks – within the last decade: Morocco (70th),
Uzbekistan (82nd), Egypt (86th) and Pakistan (88th).
– In the last four years, and since the pandemic started, Mauritius (57th), Indonesia, Saudi
Arabia, Brazil and Pakistan have risen the most in rank (in order of rank progression).

4. The United States, Singapore and Israel are scoring best in particular innovation indicators

– The United States continues to lead in terms of the number of GII innovation indicators in
which it ranks top globally (13 out of 80 indicators).
– Singapore (11 out of 80) and Israel (9 out of 80) follow.
– Select middle- and low-income economies excel in various domains. Relative to other
countries and their GDP or population, Mozambique ranks 1st in Gross capital formation,
Cambodia and Nepal in Loans from microfinance institutions, Mauritius in Venture capital
investors, and the Islamic Republic of Iran in Trademarks.
Global Innovation Index 2023

5. Regional GII leaders are Switzerland, the United States, Brazil, India, Singapore, Israel
and Mauritius; India and Rwanda lead their income groups.

– In South East Asia, East Asia and Oceania, Singapore, the Republic of Korea (10th) and China lead.
– In Northern Africa and Western Asia, Israel leads and is followed by Cyprus (28th), the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) (32nd) and Türkiye.
– In Latin America and the Caribbean, Brazil leads for the first time, followed by Chile (52nd)
and Mexico (58th).
 23

– In Central and Southern Asia, India continues to lead, and the Islamic Republic of Iran (62nd)
and Kazakhstan (81st, a newcomer to the region’s top 3) come next.
– In Sub-Saharan Africa, Mauritius (57th) is followed by South Africa (59th), Botswana (85th),
Cabo verde (91st) and Senegal (93rd).
– India leads the lower middle-income group, followed by Viet Nam and Ukraine (55th). Ukraine
is a newcomer to this income group’s top 3, based on data that mostly predate 2022.
– Rwanda (103rd) leads the low-income group, followed by Madagascar (107th) and Togo (114th),
a newcomer to this income group’s top 3.

6. Several developing economies are performing above expectation on innovation relative

to their level of economic development

– A total of 21 economies outperform on innovation relative to level of development, the

majority located in Sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania.
– India, the Republic of Moldova (60th) and Viet Nam continue as record holders by being
innovation overperformers for a 13th consecutive year.
– Indonesia, Uzbekistan and Pakistan keep their overperformer status for a second
consecutive year, Brazil for a third.
– There are two notable comebacks in 2023, namely, Senegal and North Macedonia (54th).
– Conversely, 37 economies performed below expectation on innovation, the majority from
Latin America and the Caribbean (11), followed by Sub-Saharan Africa (9), Northern Africa
and Western Asia (8) and Europe (6).

Results of the global top 100 S&T cluster ranking

7. The world’s five biggest science and technology clusters are all located in East Asia;
Tokyo–Yokohama is the biggest S&T cluster globally, Cambridge the most S&T-intensive

– Tokyo–Yokohama (Japan) continues to lead, followed by Shenzhen–Hong Kong–Guangzhou

(China and Hong Kong, China), Seoul (Republic of Korea) and then China’s Beijing and
Shanghai–Suzhou clusters.
– Cambridge in the United Kingdom and San Jose–San Francisco, CA, in the United States are
the two most S&T-intensive clusters relative to population density. Oxford (United Kingdom),
Eindhoven (Kingdom of the Netherlands) and Boston–Cambridge, MA (United States) follow.
In Germany, Munich makes the top 10 most S&T-intensive clusters globally.
– For a first time, China tops the list of countries with the highest number of clusters among
the top 100, having 24 in total. The United States follows, with 21 clusters, then Germany
with nine.
– São Paulo (Brazil); Bengaluru, Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai (India); Tehran (Islamic Republic of
Iran); Istanbul and Ankara (Türkiye); and Moscow (Russian Federation) are the only middle-
income economy clusters outside China. Chennai and Bengaluru (India) see the biggest
jump in ranking among this income group.

Top S&T cluster by economy or cross-border region ranked among the top 100, 2023
Global Innovation Index 2023

S&T clusters: Top 100 Noise non–cluster points