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UK minister welcomes world leading innovation ranking, after Oxford Saïd’s Dean publishes findings

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Data released from the 2023 Global Innovation Index (GII) shows the UK remains in fourth place out of 132 countries.

George Freeman, Minister of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, has said the innovation economy will create hundreds of thousands of jobs over the next ten years, at the University of Oxford’s UK launch of the Global Innovation Index. Consisting of 80 indicators, grouped into innovation inputs and outputs, the GII captures the multi-dimensional facets of innovation, informing an annual ranking across 132 countries.

Soumitra Dutta, Peter Moore’s Dean at Saïd Business School, and co-editor of the GII, set out the 2023 UK data at the event on Monday. The UK ranks highly, coming in fourth overall, for the fourth consecutive year. It recorded its best performance in creative outputs, such as intangible assets and trademarks by origin, where it placed second, and market sophistication, such as credit and finance for startups and scaleups, where it placed third. 

Oxford was also ranked as the world’s third biggest science and technology cluster, established through analysis of patent-filing activity and scientific article publication, documenting the geographical areas around the world with the highest density of inventors and scientific authors. 

Over the last 13 years we have massively grown the R+D and Innovation economy – from 1.5% of GDP to 2.9% - and in this three-year budget we have increased funding for innovation by 50% as part of our Innovation Nation mission.

George Freeman

Minister of State for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Recognising the achievements of the UK, George Freeman MP, who opened the event, said: 'The Global Innovation Index is the key global ranking of the UK’s standing in the world on innovation and I am pleased to see our country and its renowned institutions remaining among the top five countries in the world for innovation.'

'Over the last 13 years we have massively grown the R+D and Innovation economy – from 1.5% of GDP to 2.9% - and in this three-year budget we have increased funding for innovation by 50% as part of our Innovation Nation mission to create hundreds of thousands of new jobs over the coming years, by ensuring opportunities are targeted by sector, supporting our growing clusters and backing our schools, colleges and universities to create those talent paths and recruit the staff they need.'

The findings show that the UK performs better in innovation outputs than innovation inputs in 2023, but still saw improvements in both areas on last year, rising from seventh to sixth in innovation inputs, such as expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP and from third to second in innovation outputs, such as patents by origin. The UK remains behind Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States in terms of its global position. When compared to other European countries, the UK ranks third among the 39 economies of Europe and fourth amongst those recognised as the 50 high-income group economies.

The GII has been fundamental to our understanding of the global innovation economy, and I am delighted to launch this year’s UK report, which is integral to the business landscape.

Soumitra Dutta

Peter Moores Dean, Saïd Business School

Soumitra said: ‘Our data shows the UK remains at the forefront of global innovation and creativity, with a commitment to investing in new and emerging markets and talent. Here in Oxford, we are delighted to be playing a big part in that success, as the world’s third largest science and tech cluster. The GII has been fundamental to our understanding of the global innovation economy, and I am delighted to launch this year’s UK report, which is integral to the business landscape. The ability to compare 132 economies, provides a metric which helps motivate countries to aspire and innovate. And as one of Europe's leading business schools, we are committed to giving our students the tools and knowledge to help raise scores across the world for years to come.’

Published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) in partnership with the Portulans Institute, the GII is the premier reference for measuring innovation performance across 132 countries. Created by Soumitra in 2007, the GII has become a cornerstone of economic policymaking, with an increasing number of governments systematically analysing their annual GII results and designing policy responses to improve their performance.