• Switzerland is ranked first in the Global Innovation Index (GII) for the 14th consecutive year. Sweden and the United States maintained second and third positions, respectively. Singapore (4th) moved further into the top five, followed by the United Kingdom (5th).

• China, Turkey, India, Vietnam and the Philippines are the fastest 10-year climbers, according to WIPO’s GII 2024.

• India climbed one place to 39th rank out of 133 economies in the GII 2024 rankings. Last year, the country was ranked 40th.

Significance of WIPO’s Global Innovation Index

• Since its inception in 2007, the GII has shaped the innovation measurement agenda and 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.

• Published annually, the core of the GII provides performance measures and ranks some 130-plus economies on their innovation ecosystems. The Index is built on a rich dataset – the collection of 78 indicators from international public and private sources – going beyond the traditional measures of innovation since the definition of innovation has broadened.

• The GII is a reliable tool for governments across the world to assess the innovation-led social and economic changes in their respective countries.

• 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, like climate change. 

Key points of GII:

• In the GII ranking of 130-plus economies, China reached the 11th position and remains the only middle-income economy in the GII top 30.

• A total of 19 economies outperformed on innovation relative to their level of development. India, Moldova and Vietnam are all innovation overperformers for 14 years in a row.

• In Central and Southern Asia, India (39th) continues to lead, moving one spot forward. Iran (64th, down by two places) comes second, followed by Kazakhstan (78th). Uzbekistan (83rd) retains its 4th position within the region.

• India leads the lower middle-income group. It holds the record for overperforming on innovation for the 14th consecutive year.

• India’s strengths lie in key indicators such as ICT services exports (at first place, globally), venture capital received and intangible asset intensity. India’s unicorn companies also secure the country the 8th rank globally. 

• In the last five years, Indonesia, Mauritius (55th), Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brazil and Pakistan (91st) have climbed most in the GII, in terms of rank progression.

• Pakistan and Uzbekistan maintain their status as overperformers for a third consecutive year.

• Europe still hosts the highest number of innovation leaders among the top 25 – a 15 in total, with seven among the top 10.

• The GII 2024 identifies a major softening in leading indicators of future innovative activity, including a reversal of the 2020-2022 boom in innovation investments. 

• Amid higher interest rates, venture capital (VC) funding dropped by about 40 per cent in 2023 and growth slipped in research and development (R&D) expenditures, while international patent filings and scientific publications fell.

• 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 per cent increase on coverage in 2022, robotics, and electric vehicles (EVs) — where the global stock of EVs increased by 54 per cent 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.

What is WIPO?

• The World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is the global forum for intellectual property policy, services, information and cooperation. 

• A specialised agency of the United Nations, WIPO assists its 193 member states in developing a balanced international IP legal framework to meet society’s evolving needs. 

• Its headquarters is situated in Geneva. 

• It provides business services for obtaining IP rights in multiple countries and resolving disputes. 

• WIPO delivers capacity-building programs to help developing countries benefit from using intellectual property.

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