Six out of the top 10 most innovative countries in the world are European, but China has knocked Germany from the top 10 to enter the ranking for the first time, according to a United Nations report published on Tuesday.
Switzerland took the top spot, a position it has held since 2011. Sweden and the United States ranked second and third, respectively, in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index (GII) survey of 139 economies, which ranked countries based on 78 indicators.
South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Finland, the Netherlands and Denmark followed in this order. China came in 10th place, with Germany falling to 11th compared to ninth the year before.
In Western Europe, France ranked in 13th place, Ireland in 18th, Italy in 28th, Spain in 29th and Portugal in 31st.
The GII 2025, which ranked countries using 2024 data, said there were strong performances across middle-income economies such as China, India, Turkey, and Vietnam, which it said continue to climb in the ranking.
It also highlighted Senegal, Tunisia, Uzbekistan, and Rwanda, saying they are “emerging as dynamic innovation overperformers”.
The paper said that “after a decade of rapid expansion in [research and development, or R&D] spending and venture capital investment, we are witnessing a shift”.
It said that “R&D growth has declined to its slowest pace since the global financial crisis and global venture capital deals have not recovered from the severe downturn in 2023”.
The GII said that China is on track to be the biggest R&D spender, and that it contributed the highest number of patent filings last year, with about one quarter of all international patent applications.
However, Germany and the United States noted declines in the number of international patent applications, which is an important indicator of innovation.
But the paper said that “even if innovation investment is in a lull, innovation itself is not”.
The study noted that green supercomputers are setting new efficiency records, and battery prices have fallen, accelerating the clean energy transition. It also said electric vehicles, 5G, and robotics are taking off “albeit unevenly across regions,” with 5G now available in half of the world.
The report said that “while the full impact of artificial intelligence remains uncertain, its transformative potential is undeniable”.
The cost of genome sequencing is also continuing to fall, which has opened possibilities for personalised medicine and biological research. However, it also noted that drug approvals declined by about 19 per cent, “reflecting the innate complexity of pharmaceutical innovation, despite technological advances”.
Overall, the study found technological progress remains robust across all fields, except for drug approvals.
But it said while technology adoption expanded across all measures last year, “every single metric fell short of its long-term growth trend – a clear signal that adoption momentum is decelerating, despite continued technological progress”.