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Ranked: The Most Innovative Countries in 2023

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Ranked: The Most Innovative Countries in 2023

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The Most Innovative Countries in the World in 2023

Which countries are the global innovation powerhouses?

In many ways, the past year has represented an inflection point in technological advancement. Almost overnight, OpenAI’s large language model ChatGPT became a household name and AI was within reach to the masses.

Yet looking under the surface, innovation is influenced by several unseen factors, from the institutional environment and high-tech exports to research talent and entrepreneurship culture.

This graphic shows the most innovative countries in the world, based on the 2023 Global Innovation Index (GII) put together by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

How is Innovation Measured?

The GII framework uses seven pillars and 80 indicators to assess a country’s innovative strength:

Innovation PillarExample Indicators
👨‍💻 Knowledge & Tech OutputsPatent applications, Hi-tech manufacturing
👩‍🏫 Human Capital & ResearchResearchers per million population, Global corporate R&D investors
🧳 Business SophisticationKnowledge-intensive employment, University-industry R&D collaboration
📈 Market SophisticationFinance for startups, Venture capital received
💡 Creative OutputsTrademark applications, Global brand value
🛣️ InfrastructureEnvironmental performance, Information and communication technology access
🏛️ InstitutionsRegulatory quality, Policies for doing business

Together, the sum of these pillars produces an overall score for each country.

Most Innovative Countries in 2023

For the 13th consecutive year, Switzerland was named the world’s most innovative country.

Among the key factors underscoring its rank are its policies for doing business and its scale of patent applications. Its world-class research institutions and skilled workforce are also key ingredients in fostering innovation.

Below, we show the most innovative countries in 2023 across 132 economies:

RankCountryScore
1🇨🇭 Switzerland67.6
2🇸🇪 Sweden64.2
3🇺🇸 U.S.63.5
4🇬🇧 UK62.4
5🇸🇬 Singapore61.5
6🇫🇮 Finland61.2
7🇳🇱 Netherlands60.4
8🇩🇪 Germany58.8
9🇩🇰 Denmark58.7
10🇰🇷 South Korea58.6
11🇫🇷 France56.0
12🇨🇳 China55.3
13🇯🇵 Japan54.6
14🇮🇱 Israel54.3
15🇨🇦 Canada53.8
16🇪🇪 Estonia53.4
17🇭🇰 Hong Kong SAR53.3
18🇦🇹 Austria53.2
19🇳🇴 Norway50.7
20🇮🇸 Iceland50.7
21🇱🇺 Luxembourg50.6
22🇮🇪 Ireland50.4
23🇧🇪 Belgium49.9
24🇦🇺 Australia49.7
25🇲🇹 Malta49.1
26🇮🇹 Italy46.6
27🇳🇿 New Zealand46.6
28🇨🇾 Cyprus46.3
29🇪🇸 Spain45.9
30🇵🇹 Portugal44.9
31🇨🇿 Czech Republic44.8
32🇦🇪 UAE43.2
33🇸🇮 Slovenia42.2
34🇱🇹 Lithuania42.0
35🇭🇺 Hungary41.3
36🇲🇾 Malaysia40.9
37🇱🇻 Latvia39.7
38🇧🇬 Bulgaria39.0
39🇹🇷 Türkiye38.6
40🇮🇳 India38.1
41🇵🇱 Poland37.7
42🇬🇷 Greece37.5
43🇹🇭 Thailand37.1
44🇭🇷 Croatia37.1
45🇸🇰 Slovakia36.2
46🇻🇳 Vietnam36.0
47🇷🇴 Romania34.7
48🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia34.5
49🇧🇷 Brazil33.6
50🇶🇦 Qatar33.4
51🇷🇺 Russia33.3
52🇨🇱 Chile33.3
53🇷🇸 Serbia33.1
54🇲🇰 North Macedonia33.0
55🇺🇦 Ukraine32.8
56🇵🇭 Philippines32.2
57🇲🇺 Mauritius32.1
58🇲🇽 Mexico31.0
59🇿🇦 South Africa30.4
60🇲🇩 Moldova30.3
61🇮🇩 Indonesia30.3
62🇮🇷 Iran30.1
63🇺🇾 Uruguay30.0
64🇰🇼 Kuwait29.9
65🇬🇪 Georgia29.9
66🇨🇴 Colombia29.4
67🇧🇭 Bahrain29.1
68🇲🇳 Mongolia28.8
69🇴🇲 Oman28.4
70🇲🇦 Morocco28.4
71🇯🇴 Jordan28.2
72🇦🇲 Armenia28.0
73🇦🇷 Argentina28.0
74🇨🇷 Costa Rica27.9
75🇲🇪 Montenegro27.8
76🇵🇪 Peru27.7
77🇧🇦 Bosnia and Herzegovina27.1
78🇯🇲 Jamaica27.1
79🇹🇳 Tunisia26.9
80🇧🇾 Belarus26.8
81🇰🇿 Kazakhstan26.7
82🇺🇿 Uzbekistan26.2
83🇦🇱 Albania25.4
84🇵🇦 Panama25.3
85🇧🇼 Botswana24.6
86🇪🇬 Egypt24.2
87🇧🇳 Brunei23.5
88🇵🇰 Pakistan23.3
89🇦🇿 Azerbaijan23.3
90🇱🇰 Sri Lanka23.3
91🇨🇻 Cabo Verde23.3
92🇱🇧 Lebanon23.2
93🇸🇳 Senegal22.5
94🇩🇴 Dominican Republic22.4
95🇸🇻 El Salvador21.8
96🇳🇦 Namibia21.8
97🇧🇴 Bolivia21.4
98🇵🇾 Paraguay21.4
99🇬🇭 Ghana21.3
100🇰🇪 Kenya21.2
101🇰🇭 Cambodia20.8
102🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago20.7
103🇷🇼 Rwanda20.6
104🇪🇨 Ecuador20.5
105🇧🇩 Bangladesh20.2
106🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan20.2
107🇲🇬 Madagascar19.1
108🇳🇵 Nepal18.8
109🇳🇬 Nigeria18.4
110🇱🇦 Laos18.3
111🇹🇯 Tajikistan18.3
112🇨🇮 Côte d’Ivoire18.2
113🇹🇿 Tanzania17.4
114🇹🇬 Togo16.9
115🇳🇮 Nicaragua16.9
116🇭🇳 Honduras16.7
117🇿🇼 Zimbabwe16.5
118🇿🇲 Zambia16.4
119🇩🇿 Algeria16.1
120🇧🇯 Benin16.0
121🇺🇬 Uganda16.0
122🇬🇹 Guatemala15.8
123🇨🇲 Cameroon15.3
124🇧🇫 Burkina Faso14.5
125🇪🇹 Ethiopia14.3
126🇲🇿 Mozambique13.6
127🇲🇷 Mauritania13.5
128🇬🇳 Guinea13.3
129🇲🇱 Mali12.9
130🇧🇮 Burundi12.5
131🇳🇪 Niger12.4
132🇦🇴 Angola10.3

For full methodology notes on which economies are included in the report, see the bottom of the article.

Sweden ranked second, rising above the U.S. this year. The country excelled in business sophistication, knowledge-intensive employment, and researchers per capita.

While the U.S. ranked third overall, it saw the highest scores in venture capital received, global corporate research and development (R&D) investors, and total unicorn value. Of the 1,206 global unicorns as of April 2023, the U.S. was home to 54% of the total.

Most Innovative Countries 2019 to 2023

At fifth overall, Singapore ranked the highest in Asia. As both a financial hub and global innovator, Singapore ranked strongly on government effectiveness, venture capital received, and stability for business. It has the highest venture funding per capita in the world.

Brazil (49th) ranked highest in Latin America, while Mauritius (57th) was the top-ranking country in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Top 25 Science & Technology Clusters

Here are the top science and technology (S&T) clusters per capita, based on the density of scientific authors and inventors in a geographic location:

2023 RankingCluster EconomyTop ApplicantTop Scientific Organization
1Cambridge🇬🇧 UKARMCambridge University
2San Jose–
San Francisco
🇺🇸 U.S.GoogleStanford University
3Oxford🇬🇧 UKOxford UniversityOxford University
4Eindhoven🇳🇱 NetherlandsPhilips ElectronicsEindhoven University
of Technology
5Boston–
Cambridge
🇺🇸 U.S.MITMIT
6Daejeon🇰🇷 South KoreaLG ChemKAIST
7Ann Arbor🇺🇸 U.S.University of MichiganUniversity of Michigan
8San Diego🇺🇸 U.S.QualcommUniversity of California
San Diego
9Seattle🇺🇸 U.S.MicrosoftUniversity of Washington
Seattle
10Munich🇩🇪 GermanyBMWTechnical University
of Munich
11Kanazawa🇯🇵 JapanFujitsuKanazawa University
12Raleigh🇺🇸 U.S.Duke UniversityDuke University
13Göteborg🇸🇪 SwedenLM EricssonUniversity of Gothenburg
14Beijing🇨🇳 ChinaBOE TechnologyTsinghua University
15Stockholm🇸🇪 SwedenLM EricssonKarolinska Institutet
16Helsinki🇫🇮 FinlandNokiaUniversity of Helsinki
17Zürich🇨🇭 SwitzerlandETH ZürichETH Zürich
18Tokyo–Yokohama🇯🇵 JapanMitsubishi ElectricUniversity of Tokyo
19Basel🇨🇭 Switzerland, Denmark, FranceDSM IP AssetsUniversity of Basel
20Copenhagen🇩🇰 DenmarkNovo NordiskUniversity of Copenhagen
21Nuremberg–Erlangen🇩🇪 GermanySiemensUniversity of Erlangen
Nuremberg
22Stuttgart🇩🇪 GermanyRobert BoschEberhard Karls
University of Tübingen
23Minneapolis🇺🇸 U.S.3M Innovative PropertiesUniversity of Minnesota
Twin Cities
24Pittsburgh🇺🇸 U.S.University of PittsburghUniversity of Pittsburgh
25Seoul🇰🇷 South KoreaSamsung ElectronicsSeoul National University

As the top S&T cluster by intensity, Cambridge produced 37,000 articles per million people. Its top applicant, ARM, is a semiconductor company working closely with Cambridge University. Over 130 billion devices globally have used chips based on ARM’s designs.

The San Jose-San Francisco cluster ranked second, with Google as the top applicant. In 2022, the U.S. granted Google’s parent company Alphabet 2,077 patents.

South Korea’s Daejeon cluster is the top in Asia, led by battery maker LG Chem. In 2022, over 49,000 domestic and overseas patents were registered. In fact, both Honda and GM are partnering with LG Chem to build multi-billion dollar battery factories in Ohio over the next few years.

As we can see, many of the world’s most innovative countries have strong clusters that attract tech firms, researchers, and knowledge-intensive workers due to a host of factors that support disruption and tech advancement.

These tech clusters have a powerful effect on creating innovations that extend across multiple sectors of the economy, and the wider global landscape.

Where Does This Data Come From?

Source: World Intellectual Property Organization Global Innovation Index (2023).

Note: The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an agency of the United Nations. It includes 190 UN member states, as well as three non-members: the Cook Islands, Holy See, and Niue.

Countries that are not a part of the WIPO include three UN-recognized countries—the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and South Sudan—as well as other non-members including Taiwan.

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