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Top innovating nations revealed in GII report - but dark clouds for innovation investment

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Global Innovation Index shows Switzerland, Sweden, US, Singapore, UK top ranking; China, Türkiye, India, Vietnam, Philippines among fastest ten year risers.

Switzerland, Sweden, the US, Singapore and the UK are the world’s most-innovative economies, according to the World Intellectual Property Organisation’s (WIPO) Global Innovation Index 2024 (GII) published today. Co-edited by Professor Soumitra Dutta, Dean of Oxford Saïd Business School, the GII Index also shows China, Türkiye, India, Vietnam and the Philippines are the fastest 10-year climbers, making China the only middle-income economy in the GII’s top 30.

Now in its 17th edition, the GII is the world’s benchmark resource, charting global innovation trends to guide policy makers, business leaders and others in unleashing human ingenuity to improve lives and address shared challenges, such as climate change. This year, the GII also looks at “social entrepreneurship,” where private-sector practices are used for positive social change.

However, the GII report reveals a major softening in leading indicators of future innovative activity, including a reversal of the 2020-2022 boom in innovation investment. Amid higher interest rates, in 2023 venture capital funding fell by some 40%, growth slipped in research and development spending, while international patent filings and scientific publications fell.

In 2023, we saw a decline in R&D expenditures, a reduction in scientific publications, and a scaling back of venture capital investments to pre-pandemic levels...However, technological progress remained strong, particularly in health-related fields.

Daren Tang

WIPO Director General

According to Daren Tang, technological progress remained strong in 2023, 'particularly in health-related fields such as genome sequencing, as well as in computing power and electric batteries. Technology adoption also deepened, especially in 5G, robotics, and electric vehicles'. He added: 'This year’s GII also reveals positive trends in key indicators, including a decline in global poverty and rises in labour productivity and life expectancy.'

A total of 19 economies outperformed on innovation, relative to their level of development. India, the Republic of Moldova and Vietnam are all innovation overperformers for 14 years in a row. In more recent years, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brazil, Indonesia, Mauritius and Pakistan have climbed the most in the GII (in order of their ranking). Indonesia, Pakistan and Uzbekistan maintain their overperformer status for a third year and Brazil for a fourth consecutive year.

'At WIPO, we see a growing interest in innovation from around the world. More and more countries are realising that unleashing the innovation potential of their people is critical to growth and development, as well as addressing local and global challenges. The challenge for policymakers is how to build a vibrant innovation ecosystem that helps a great idea make real impact,' said Daren Tang. 

Social entrepreneurship is a vital form of innovation addressing key societal challenges, yet it remains underexplored in innovation literature and policy. The GII aims to highlight emerging innovation...and foster improved metrics and ecosystems.

Professor Soumitra Dutta

Dean of Oxford Saïd Business School

GII 2024 focus: Social Entrepreneurship.

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What will it take for social entrepreneurship to catalyse transformative innovation and societal impact? This year's GII highlights the growing significance of “social entrepreneurship,” a crucial source of innovation often overlooked by policymakers, innovation economists, development agencies, and funding institutions. 

Social entrepreneurship marries business practices with social goals to address some of the world's most pressing social and environmental challenges, such as creating jobs, providing education, improving infrastructure, and developing tailor-made sustainable solutions for local needs. 

However, realising the full potential of social entrepreneurship requires a supportive ecosystem, including regulatory and legal frameworks, funding mechanisms, and training programs to recognise and support social entrepreneurs. The GII 2024 has brought together analysis and policy guidance from key actors in the field of social entrepreneurship, such as the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford University, the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, and Catalyst 2030, along with top social entrepreneurs and innovation experts.

They shed light on the underexplored linkages between innovation and social entrepreneurship, making social entrepreneurship a prominent part of the international development and innovation policy dialogue, and a growing area of interest for cross-border cooperation.

I am proud that the 2024 edition directly tackles social entrepreneurship, drawing on expertise from leading institutions such as the Skoll Centre at Oxford University and insights from social entrepreneurs.

Professor Soumitra Dutta

Dean Oxford Saïd Business School

GII main findings include:

 • Following a boom between 2020 and 2022, scientific publications, venture capital and international patent filings experienced a downturn in 2023, and research and development expenditures slowed.

 • Venture capital and scientific publications have declined sharply, back to pre-pandemic levels, with a pronounced impact on emerging regions such as Latin America and Africa. 

• Reflecting a deteriorating climate for risk finance, the value of venture capital investments has been falling sharply from the exceptionally high levels of 2021, with a 36% drop in 2022 followed by a further 39% drop in 2023. 

 • International patent filings saw a decline of 1.8% in 2023, the first such decline since 2009.

 • In 2023, spending by corporations representing the largest investors in R&D, grew by around 6% percent in real terms. This lags the long-term growth rate for the last 10 years (around 8%), and is down from peaks between 10-15% between 2019–2021, and from pre-pandemic growth rates.

 • Technology continues to progress rapidly, particularly in health-related fields and computing power. Technology adoption is also growing, particularly in 5G – with close to 25% increase on coverage in 2022, robotics, and electric vehicles (EVs), where the global stock of EVs increased by 54% in 2022.

 • However, the progress in green technologies in the last year has been slower than the average for the decade, highlighting the difficulty in reducing the energy consumption of supercomputers and maintaining the decrease in electric battery prices.

GII Index 2024
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