Global Innovation Index 2019: India makes major gains as Switzerland, Sweden, U.S., Netherlands, U.K. top ranking; trade protectionism poses risks for future innovation

       

 

Switzerland is the world’s most-innovative country followed by Sweden, the United States of America (U.S.), the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (U.K.), according to the 2019 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), which also identifies regional leaders India, South Africa, Chile, Israel and Singapore, with China, Viet Nam and Rwanda topping their income groups.

Now in its 12th edition, the GII is a global benchmark that helps policy makers better understand how to stimulate and measure innovative activity, a main driver of economic and social development. The GII 2019 ranks 129 economies (Annex 1) based on 80 indicators, from traditional measurements like research and development investments and international patent and trademark applications to newer indicators including mobile-phone app creation and high-tech exports.

The GII 2019 also looks at the economic context: Despite signs of slowing economic growth, innovation continues to blossom, particularly in Asia, but pressures are looming from trade disruptions and protectionism. Sound government planning for innovation is critical for success, the report shows.

“The GII shows us that countries that prioritize innovation in their policies have seen significant increases in their rankings,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry. “The rise in the GII by economic powerhouses like China and India have transformed the geography of innovation and this reflects deliberate policy action to promote innovation,” said WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.

Top 20 in Global Ranking

1	Switzerland (Number 1 in 2018)	11	Korea, Republic of (12)
2	Sweden (3)	12	Ireland (10)
3	United States of America (6)	13	Hong Kong (China) (14)
4	The Netherlands (2)	14	China (17)
5	United Kingdom (4)	15	Japan (13)
6	Finland (7)	16	France (16)
7	Denmark (8)	17	Canada (18)
8	Singapore (5)	18	Luxemburg (15)
9	Germany (9)	19	Norway (19)
10	Israel (11)	20	Iceland (23)

 

For the first time, the GII launch is being hosted by the Government of India, which uses the GII in creative ways to strengthen its policy framework for innovation at both the national and regional levels.

“The 2019 launch of the Global Innovation Index in India is a significant event and a recognition of the Government of India’s commitment to innovation in recent years,” said Minister of Commerce and Industry & Railways Piyush Goyal. He added: “The GII is a useful tool for governments to map out their strategies to foster innovation. The Government of India compliments the World Intellectual Property Organization for its efforts in this direction.”

Mr. Gurry thanked the Government of India for hosting the global launch of the GII. “India’s high-level focus on using innovation to foster economic development makes the country an ideal location for the GII 2019 launch,” Mr. Gurry said.

GII 2019 Key Findings

Among notable GII key findings this year:

• The global landscape of science, innovation, and technology has undergone important shifts over the last decades. Middle-income economies, especially in Asia, are increasingly contributing to global research and development (R&D) and international patenting rates via WIPO’s International Patent System;
• The GII 2019 shows that public R&D expenditures – particularly in some high-income economies – are growing slowly or not at all.  This raises concerns given the public sector’s central role in funding basic R&D and blue-sky research, which are key to future innovations;
• Increased protectionism poses risks. If left uncontained, it will lead to a slowdown of growth in innovation productivity and diffusion across the globe;
• Innovation inputs and outputs are still concentrated in very few economies. Divides also persist in how effectively economies obtain return on their innovation investments. Some economies achieve more with less;
• Most top science and technology clusters are in the U.S., China, and Germany, while Brazil, India, Iran, the Russian Federation, and Turkey also feature in the top 100 list. The top five clusters: Tokyo-Yokohama (Japan); Shenzhen-Hong Kong, China (China); Seoul (Republic of Korea); Beijing (China); San Jose-San Francisco (U.S.).

“While the Global Innovation Index ranks economies according to their innovation capacity and performance, it also provides valuable insights into the dynamics of global innovation: It highlights economies that excel in innovation and those that are more successful in translating investments in innovation inputs into innovation outputs. Lessons from these innovation leaders provide useful guidance on innovation policy for others,” said Soumitra Dutta, Former Dean and Professor of Management at Cornell University, a GII co-publisher.

GII 2019 Theme: “Creating Healthy Lives – The Future of Medical Innovation”

The GII 2019 theme is “Creating Healthy Lives – The Future of Medical Innovation.” Through a healthcare theme section and 16 chapters from notable contributors, the GII 2019 looks at how medical innovation, including the use of artificial intelligence (AI), genomics, and mobile-phone based health applications, will transform the delivery of healthcare.   “Innovation in the field of health is now being increasingly driven by data (Internet of Things) and artificial intelligence, in both diagnosis and prognosis. Unprecedented challenges need urgent attention in ethical, social and economic dimensions. As the power of medical decisions moves farther away from medical professions, regulators, governments, business and civil society need to establish limits to the ways in which the holders of big data and advanced algorithms can make or influence health decisions. In the absence of swift action, innovation in health and medicine may become a significant source of inequality," said Bruno Lanvin, INSEAD Executive Director for Global Indices.  

GII 2019 Regional Innovation Leaders

Region / Rank	Country	GII 2019 Global Rank
Northern America
1	United States of America	3
2	Canada	17
Sub-Saharan Africa
1	South Africa	63
2	Kenya	77
3	Mauritius	82
Latin America and the Caribbean
1	Chile	51
2	Costa Rica	55
3	Mexico	56
Central and Southern Asia
1	India	52
2	Iran, Islamic Republic of	61
3	Kazakhstan	79
Northern Africa and Western Asia
1	Israel	10
2	Cyprus	28
3	United Arab Emirates	36
South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania
1	Singapore	8
2	Korea, Republic of	11
3	Hong Kong, China	13
Europe
1	Switzerland	1
2	Sweden	2
3	The Netherlands	4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northern America

The U.S. reaches the GII top three thanks to better performance and improved GII data coverage. The U.S. maintains its status as global leader in the quality of credit and investment markets and boasts R&D-intensive global companies, as well as top-quality scientific publications and universities. It ranks first worldwide in the quality of innovation. The U.S. is also home to the greatest number of top 100 science and technology clusters in the world, with a total of 26. Canada moves up to the 17th position, also thanks to a more-precise assessment of its human capital and research system. High scores in quality of universities and scientific publications make Canada the 10th global economy in the quality of innovation.
 

Sub-Saharan Africa

Since 2012, Sub-Saharan Africa has had more economies outperforming relatively well on innovation compared to their level of economic development than any other region. This year these include Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Mozambique.

South Africa (63) takes the top spot among all economies in the region, followed by Kenya (77) and Mauritius (82).

South Africa benefits from a relatively sophisticated credit and investment market, as evidenced by indicators such as domestic credit to the private sector and market capitalization. Other strong indicators include IP payments and quality of publications.

This year Rwanda makes significant progress and ranks 94th, up five from 2018. It is the top economy in the low-income group and shows a strong performance in capital formation, ease of getting credit, firms offering formal training, and high-technology imports.

Latin America and the Caribbean

Progress in innovation performance remains slow in Latin America and the Caribbean and the GII shows that the region’s innovation potential remains largely untapped despite incremental improvements and encouraging initiatives.

The top three economies in this region are Chile (51), followed by Costa Rica (55), and Mexico (56).

Chile maintains its rank in institutional variables and registers improvements in education-related variables, with improved performance found in patents, utility models, and mobile-app creation.

Thanks to its role in global trade, Mexico remains strong in trade-related variables such as high-tech imports and exports and creative goods exports.

Brazil, the region’s largest economy, is ranked 66^th globally this year. Areas of comparative strengths include important variables such as R&D expenditures and R&D-intensive global firms, and quality of scientific publications and universities. It is also the only country in the region hosting science and technology clusters in the top 100 worldwide.

Central and Southern Asia

India maintains its top place in the Central and Southern Asia region as the  52^nd ranked economy this year. From 81 in 2015, India’s 29-place move up the GII represents the biggest jump by any major economy. Thanks to its high-quality scientific publications and universities, India remains 2^nd among middle-income economies in the quality of innovation. It maintains top ranks in a number of important indicators such as productivity growth and exports of services related to information and communication technologies. This year India reaches the 15th spot in global companies’ R&D expenditures. It also features in the GII ranking on the world’s top science and technology clusters, with Bengaluru, Mumbai and New Delhi included in the global top 100 clusters.

The Islamic Republic of Iran is the second most innovative country in the region and the 3rd economy worldwide  in science and engineering graduates as a proportion of the total population. It confirms its relatively strong performance in variables such as capital formation, patent applications, scientific and technical publications, productivity growth, high-technology manufactures, trademarks and industrial designs.

Northern Africa and Western Asia

Israel (10), Cyprus (28), and the United Arab Emirates (36) are the top three economies in this region.

Thanks to its innovative business sector and eminent research and development system, Israel produces high-quality innovation outcomes, including exports of services related to information and communication technologies and mobile applications.

The United Arab Emirates is in the top 10 in the number of incoming tertiary students, R&D expenditures financed by the business sector, research talent in business enterprises, as well as cost of redundancy dismissal, electricity output, and state of cluster development.

South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania

Singapore (8), the Republic of Korea (11), and Hong Kong, China (13) are the three top-ranked economies in the South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania region. China is number 14 following a rapid rise up the ranks of the GII in recent years.

China continues its upward rise in the GII and firmly establishes itself as a world innovation leader. It maintains its first place in quality of innovation among middle-income economies for the seventh consecutive year and achieves top ranks in patents, industrial designs and trademarks by origin, as well as high-technology and creative goods exports. With 18 of the top 100 science and technology clusters, China is second only to the U.S. in this measurement.

Partly due to improved data coverage, Singapore moves to the 8th spot this year. It maintains  leadership in institution-related indicators, while becoming world leader in, knowledge-intensive employment, and strategic alliances deals.

The Republic of Korea gains one position from last year, moving closer to the top 10. It becomes world leader in human capital and research, maintaining high ranks in most R&D-related indicators, as well as tertiary enrolment and number of researchers. Republic of Korea keeps its first spot in the world in national patent applications, industrial designs, and high-technology exports, relative to gross domestic product (GDP).

Viet Nam (42, up three from GII 2018) and the Philippines (54, up 19 from GII 2018) make important progress this year. While some changes to the GII model explain some of the Philippines’ leap, newly available metrics give a more-thorough assessment of its innovative performance, which itself shows signs of progress. Both economies improve in most of the GII areas and gain top ranks in high-technology imports and exports.

Europe

Twelve of the top 20 GII economies are in Europe.

Switzerland tops the GII for the ninth consecutive year. Its solid strong performance translates to excellent innovation outcomes including patent applications, IP receipts and high-tech manufacturing products.

Sweden is the second ranked economy worldwide in the GII 2019, thanks to its developed infrastructure, an innovative business sector and outputs from knowledge and technology. The country makes important improvements in innovation outcomes and maintains a top position in patent applications filed via WIPO’s Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), relative to gross domestic product. 

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Read the INSEAD Knowledge article to find out more.