Global Innovation Index

The Global Innovation Index is an annual ranking of countries by their capacity for and success in innovation, published by the World Intellectual Property Organization. It was started in 2007 by INSEAD and World Business, a British magazine. Until 2021, it was published by WIPO in partnership with Cornell University, INSEAD, and other organisations and institutions. It is based on both subjective and objective data derived from several sources, including the International Telecommunication Union, the World Bank, and the World Economic Forum.

WWW wipo.int/global_innovatio...DOI 10.34667/TIND.46596

History

The Global Innovation Index was started in 2007 by INSEAD and World Business, a British magazine. It was created by Soumitra Dutta.

Methodology

The Global Innovation Index is computed by taking a simple average of the scores in two sub-indices, which are composed of respectively five and two pillars. Each of those pillars describes an attribute of innovation and have to five indicators, and their score is calculated by the weighted average method.
Since its inception in 2007, the index has had its results analyzed by an increasing number of governments annually, which design policy responses to improve their performance. The index is mentioned in a resolution on science, technology and innovation for sustainable development adopted on 19 December 2019 by the General Assembly of the United Nations.

Criticism

Several scholars have criticized the index for giving excessive significance attributed to factors that are not integral to innovation. For instance, "Ease of Paying Taxes", "Electricity Output", and "Ease of Protecting Minority Investors" are factors alongside "Ease of Getting Credit" and "Venture Capital Deals." A 2024 study by Sarcina, Paolantonio, Valentini, and Iannone argued that the analysis of the GII pillars is "too aggregated to provide the necessary visibility of the determinants of innovation performance." The research found that indicators within a single pillar "contribute with different weights and have different statistical significance." The authors suggested that the model for calculating the ranking should be redefined to not only consider the "most statistically representative variables" but also to include "geographical, demographic, and socio-economic factors," noting that the importance of various innovation determinants likely differs between countries at different stages of development.

Themes

Every two years, the index covers a theme related to innovation that goes beyond the innovation rankings. In 2020, the theme was "Who will finance innovation?" and shed light on the state of innovation financing by investigating the evolution of existing mechanisms and by pointing to progress and remaining challenges. Previous themes covered topics such as health innovation, environmental innovation, and agricultural and food innovation.

2025 ranking

In 2025, for an economy to feature in the GII 2025, the minimum data coverage requirement is at least 35 indicators in the Innovation Input Sub-Index and 15 indicators in the Innovation Output Sub-Index, with scores for at least two sub-pillars per pillar. In the GII 2025, 139 economies had sufficient data available to be included in the Index. They represent 93.6 percent of the world's population. This year's conceptual framework includes 78 different indicators.
The Global Innovation Index 2025 scores 139 countries and regions.

Rank	Country and region	Score	Income group
1		66.0	High-income
2		62.6	High-income
3		61.7	High-income
4		60.0	High-income
5		59.9	High-income
6		59.1	High-income
7		57.7	High-income
8		57.0	High-income
9		56.9	High-income
10		56.6	Upper middle-income
11		55.5	High-income
12		53.6	High-income
13		53.4	High-income
14		52.3	High-income
15		51.5	High-income
16		51.1	High-income
17		51.1	High-income
18		50.4	High-income
19		50.1	High-income
20		49.2	High-income
21		48.5	High-income
22		48.0	High-income
23		47.3	High-income
24		47.0	High-income
25		45.5	High-income
26		45.5	High-income
27		45.4	High-income
28		44.9	High-income
29		44.6	High-income
30		44.2	High-income
31		43.9	High-income
32		42.0	High-income
33		40.8	High-income
34		40.6	Upper middle-income
35		40.1	High-income
36		40.0	High-income
37		39.1	High-income
38		38.2	Lower middle-income
39		37.7	High-income
40		37.7	High-income
41		37.5	High-income
42		37.4	High-income
43		37.2	High-income
44		37.1	Lower middle-income
45		36.7	Upper middle-income
46		36.0	High-income
47		35.5	High-income
48		34.6	High-income
49		34.3	High-income
50		33.6	Lower middle-income
51		33.1	High-income
52		32.9	Upper middle-income
53		32.5	Upper middle-income
54		31.7	Upper middle-income
55		31.3	Upper middle-income
56		31.2	Upper middle-income
57		31.1	Lower middle-income
58		30.5	Upper middle-income
59		30.5	Upper middle-income
60		30.3	High-income
61		30.1	Upper middle-income
62		30.0	High-income
63		29.8	Upper middle-income
64		29.8	Upper middle-income
65		29.7	Lower middle-income
66		29.7	Lower middle-income
67		29.6	Upper middle-income
68		28.8	High-income
69		28.7	High-income
70		28.5	Lower middle-income
71		28.5	Upper middle-income
72		28.4	High-income
73		28.2	High-income
74		27.4	Upper middle-income
75		27.2	High-income
76		27.0	Lower middle-income
77		26.8	Upper middle-income
78		26.7	Upper middle-income
79		26.5	Lower middle-income
80		26.5	Upper middle-income
81		26.3	Upper middle-income
82		25.9	High-income
83		25.2	Upper middle-income
84		25.1	High-income
85		25.1	Upper middle-income
86		24.7	Lower middle-income
87		24.6	Upper middle-income
88		24.5	High-income
89		23.8	Lower middle-income
90		23.6	Lower middle-income
91		23.5	Lower middle-income
92		23.4	Upper middle-income
93		22.9	Lower middle-income
94		22.9	Upper middle-income
95		22.6	Lower middle-income
96		22.6	Lower middle-income
97		22.6	Upper middle-income
98		22.2	Upper middle-income
99		22.1	Lower middle-income
100		21.9	Lower middle-income
101		21.9	Lower middle-income
102		21.4	Upper middle-income
103		21.4	Lower middle-income
104		21.1	Low-income
105		21.1	Lower middle-income
106		21.0	Lower middle-income
107		20.2	Lower middle-income
108		20.2	Lower middle-income
109		20.1	Lower middle-income
110		19.7	Lower middle-income
111		19.6	Lower middle-income
112		19.6	Lower middle-income
113		19.5	Upper middle-income
114		19.3	High-income
115		18.9	Lower middle-income
116		18.2	Lower middle-income
117		18.1	Low-income
118		17.8	Lower middle-income
119		17.7	Lower middle-income
120		17.6	Low-income
121		17.5	Low-income
122		17.3	Lower middle-income
123		17.1	Upper middle-income
124		17.1	Lower middle-income
125		16.0	Low-income
126		15.9	Low-income
127		15.8	Low-income
128		15.4	Low-income
129		15.4	Lower middle-income
130		15.4	Lower middle-income
131		15.4	Low-income
132		14.9	Low-income
133		14.9	Lower middle-income
134		14.4	Low-income
135		14.0	Low-income
136		13.7	Lower middle-income
137		13.6	Lower middle-income
138		13.0	Lower middle-income
139		11.9	Low-income

2024 ranking

The Global Innovation Index 2024 scores 133 countries and regions. The sorting order is in descending score.

Rank	Country and region	Score	Income group
1		67.5	High-income
2		64.5	High-income
3		62.4	High-income
4		61.2	High-income
5		61.0	High-income
6		60.9	High-income
7		59.4	High-income
8		58.8	High-income
9		58.1	High-income
10		57.1	High-income
11		56.3	Upper middle-income
12		55.4	High-income
13		54.1	High-income
14		52.9	High-income
15		52.7	High-income
16		52.3	High-income
17		50.3	High-income
18		50.1	High-income
19		50.0	High-income
20		49.1	High-income
21		49.1	High-income
22		48.5	High-income
23		48.1	High-income
24		47.7	High-income
25		45.9	High-income
26		45.3	High-income
27		45.1	High-income
28		44.9	High-income
29		44.8	High-income
30		44.0	High-income
31		43.7	High-income
32		42.8	High-income
33		40.5	Upper middle-income
34		40.2	High-income
35		40.1	High-income
36		39.6	High-income
37		39.0	Upper middle-income
38		38.5	High-income
39		38.3	Lower middle-income
40		37.0	High-income
41		36.9	Upper middle-income
42		36.4	High-income
43		36.3	High-income
44		36.2	Lower middle-income
45		36.2	High-income
46		34.3	High-income
47		33.9	High-income
48		33.4	High-income
49		32.9	High-income
50		32.7	Upper middle-income
51		32.6	High-income
52		32.3	Upper middle-income
53		31.1	Lower middle-income
54		30.6	Upper middle-income
55		30.6	Upper middle-income
56		30.4	Upper middle-income
57		30.4	Upper middle-income
58		29.9	Upper middle-income
59		29.7	High-income
60		29.5	Lower middle-income
61		29.2	Upper middle-income
62		29.1	High-income
63		29.0	Upper middle-income
64		28.9	Lower middle-income
65		28.9	Upper middle-income
66		28.8	Lower middle-income
67		28.7	Lower middle-income
68		28.7	Upper middle-income
69		28.3	Upper middle-income
70		28.3	Upper middle-income
71		28.1	High-income
72		27.6	High-income
73		27.5	Lower middle-income
74		27.1	High-income
75		26.7	Upper middle-income
76		26.4	Upper middle-income
77		26.1	High-income
78		25.7	Upper middle-income
79		25.7	Upper middle-income
80		25.5	Upper middle-income
81		25.4	Lower middle-income
82		24.7	High-income
83		24.7	Lower middle-income
84		24.5	Upper middle-income
85		24.2	Upper middle-income
86		23.7	Lower middle-income
87		23.1	Upper middle-income
88		22.8	High-income
89		22.6	Lower middle-income
90		22.3	Lower middle-income
91		22.0	Lower middle-income
92		22.0	Lower middle-income
93		21.9	Upper middle-income
94		21.5	Lower middle-income
95		21.3	Upper middle-income
96		21.0	Lower middle-income
97		20.8	Upper middle-income
98		20.6	Upper middle-income
99		20.4	Lower middle-income
100		20.2	Lower middle-income
101		20.0	Lower middle-income
102		20.0	Upper middle-income
103		19.9	Lower middle-income
104		19.7	Low-income
105		19.3	Upper middle-income
106		19.1	Lower middle-income
107		18.6	Lower middle-income
108		18.4	High-income
109		18.1	Lower middle-income
110		17.9	Low-income
111		17.8	Lower middle-income
112		17.5	Lower middle-income
113		17.1	Lower middle-income
114		16.7	Lower middle-income
115		16.2	Lower middle-income
116		15.7	Lower middle-income
117		15.6	Low-income
118		15.6	Lower middle-income
119		15.4	Lower middle-income
120		15.3	Lower middle-income
121		14.9	Low-income
122		14.6	Upper middle-income
123		14.4	Lower middle-income
124		14.0	Lower middle-income
125		13.8	Lower middle-income
126		13.2	Lower middle-income
127		13.2	Low-income
128		13.1	Low-income
129		12.8	Low-income
130		12.3	Low-income
131		11.8	Low-income
132		11.2	Low-income
133		10.2	Lower middle-income