In this article, we take a look at 15 most innovative countries in the world. If you want to see more most innovative countries in the world, go directly to 5 Most Innovative Countries in the World.
The World Intellectual Property Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that ranks various countries economies by how innovative they are each year in their Global Innovation Index (GII).
For 2022, the United States, the Republic of Korea (South Korea), and Germany are in the GII top 10. At its number one spot, however, is Switzerland, which has ranked as the most innovative economy for the 12th straight year in the GII rankings.
The GII uses various indicators to rank innovation, including measures on the political environment, education, infrastructure and knowledge creation.
In terms of its GII indicators, Switzerland ranks #2 in terms of institutions, #4 in terms of human capital and research, #4 in terms of infrastructure, #8 in terms of market sophistication, #7 in terms of business sophistication, #1 in terms of knowledge and technology outputs, and #1 when it comes to creative outputs.
Given no other country ranked higher in terms of the collective GII indicator weighting, Switzerland is the global leader in innovation according to The World Intellectual Property Organization.
On a per capita basis, it is understandable that Switzerland would rank highly because it has one of the highest incomes per capita among all the countries in the world with a GDP per capita of $93,457.44 in 2021.
Nevertheless, on an absolute basis, there might be more innovative countries. While Switzerland is very innovative, it probably wouldn't be the top choice among the world's population as a whole if they were to pick which country is the most innovative.
Given its eight decades of dominance in technology, the United States would probably be #1 on most people's rankings in terms of what country is most innovative.
In terms of the past decades, the United States is the only country that has sent someone to the moon. It invented the transistor and pioneered the development of computers, smartphones, and the internet. The country is also a leader in pharmaceuticals, aircraft, and green technologies.
The United States is home to Silicon Valley, which is regarded as the capital of innovation in the world given the many innovative companies such as Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) that have headquarters there.
The United States also has arguably the majority of the world's leading universities such as Harvard or Stanford that do a lot of innovative research.
Although how innovative a country is on a per capita basis is important, absolute innovation is ultimately what matters in terms of unlocking productivity growth for the world so it can be a better place to live. Absolute innovation is also what's important in terms of helping a country's economy grow further.
15 Most Innovative Countries in the World
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Methodology
For our list of 15 Most Innovative Countries in the World, we mostly used the Global Innovation Index (GII)'s 2022 rankings but we also factored into the rankings how big a country's economy is by nominal GDP and how much the country spent on R&D as a percentage of nominal GDP for the top four rankings.
We think factoring in how much a country has spent on R&D on an absolute basis matters as it is more correlated with total innovation than how innovative a country might be in terms of innovation on a per capita basis.
15 Most Innovative Countries in the World
#15 Israel
Israel scored a 50.2 on the Global Innovation Index's 2022 rankings given the country ranked #7 in GII's market sophistication indicator, #6 in its business sophistication indicator, and #7 in its knowledge and technology outputs indicator. Israel is also the only country in the world that spends more than 5% of its GDP in R&D with the government spending 5.4% in 2020. As a result of its highly innovative economy, Israel had a GDP per capita of $51,430.08 in 2021.
#14 Canada
Canada ranks well in terms of innovation given its advanced economy, educated workforce, relatively high GDP per capita of $52,051.35 in 2021, and its market sophistication which GII ranks the country #6 in the world in. Overall, Canada scored a 50.8 in the 2022 edition of the index.
#13 France
France is an innovation leader given it has 4 of the top 100 science and technology clusters in the world, with only the United States, China, Germany, and Japan ranking higher in that metric. According to GII, science and technology (S&T) clusters are geographical areas around the world with the highest density of inventors and scientific authors. In terms of the top S&T clusters, Paris ranks #10. Countries with more S&T clusters have more potential for innovation.
#12 Denmark
Denmark scored a 55.9 in the GII thanks in part to its 9th place ranking in the institutions indicator and 5th place ranking in the infrastructure indicator. In terms of its infrastructure, Denmark has one of the most advanced energy grids in the world given the country gets around two thirds of its energy from renewable energy with 50% coming from wind or solar. Given its emphasis on renewables, Denmark produces nearly twice as much wind energy per capita as the second place country among industrialized countries in the OECD.
#11 Finland
Finland is an innovative country that ranks #3 in GII's infrastructure indicator, and #4 in its knowledge and technology outputs indicator. The Nordic country also ranks #5 in the business sophistication indicator. Given its infrastructure, culture, and business environment, Finland is one of the hot beds of innovation in Europe with a vibrant startup scene that has created companies such as Angry Birds and Supercell.
#10 Singapore
Singapore is a leading Asian city-state with one of the highest incomes per capita in Asia with a GDP per capita of $72,794 in 2021. One reason for Singapore's success is that the country has leading institutions and business sophistication, which the country ranks #1 and #2 in the world in, respectively, according to GII.
#9 South Korea (Republic of Korea)
South Korea is an innovative Asian country that ranks first in the world in GII's human capital and research indicator given the nation has a highly educated workforce and the nation spends a considerable amount of resources on R&D. In 2020, South Korea ranked second in the world in terms of research and development expenditure with 4.81% of gross domestic product dedicated to R&D.
#8 Netherlands
The Netherlands ranks #8 on our list of 15 Most Innovative Countries in the World given the country's strong institutions and its supportive business culture. In terms of support, the Dutch government helps some companies develop innovative products through a mixture of tax benefits, innovation credit and grants. The country's government also sponsors an innovation expo every two years to feature innovations that help address major societal challenges.
#7 United Kingdom
The United Kingdom has a long history of innovation given it was the place where the industrial revolution first began. Thanks to the industrial revolution, living standards improved and the global economy expanded substantially. As of 2022, The United Kingdom remains one of the top innovative countries in the world given it is home to leading research universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. The government also offers tax breaks for innovation to further promote R&D expenditures and potentially create more jobs.
#6 Sweden
Sweden ranks #3 in the world with a 61.6 score according to the Global Innovation Index, behind only the United States and Switzerland. When it comes to the GII, Sweden ranks #3 in the human capital and research indicator, #1 in the infrastructure indicator, #1 in the business sophistication indicator, and #2 in the knowledge and technology outputs indicator. Given Sweden only has a population of 10.42 million in 2021, the country ranks #6 on our list.
