Most Innovative Countries 2024

Innovation is key for a country to remain competitive on the global stage. A country’s innovation includes its government, fiscal policies, education policies, and innovation environment (innovation inputs) as well as its patents, technology, business performance, and economic growth (innovation outputs). Innovation is a major factor in determining which countries are the most technologically advanced countries in the world. Which countries are the most innovative? The annual Bloomberg Innovation Index analyzes 60 nations using dozens of criteria grouped into seven metrics: research and development, gross value added by manufacturing, productivity, high-tech company density, researcher concentration, tertiary efficiency, and patent activity. While the Bloomberg analysis is ostensibly focused upon the innovation of a nation's economy, the categories are so broad and comprehensive—and economies are so deeply entwined in most other aspects of life—that the analysis is often interpreted as a measure of not merely economic innovation, but innovation as a whole.

Top 10 Most Innovative Countries in the World - Bloomberg 2021

Country	Global Innovation Index Overall Rank 2023
Switzerland	1
Sweden	2
United States	3
United Kingdom	4
Singapore	5
Finland	6
Netherlands	7
Germany	8
Denmark	9
South Korea	10

In the index's 2021 edition, South Korea regained the title of the nation with the most technologically advanced economy. South Korea’s best performing metric is patent activity, for which it ranked first in the world. South Korea ranked second for both research and development intensity and gross value added by manufacturing, fourth for high-tech company density, and third for researcher concentration. South Korea is home to companies such as Samsung, LG, and Hyundai.

Singapore ranked as 2021's second-most innovative country. Singapore's rise can be attributed to its rising productivity and manufacturing gains. Additionally, Singapore ranks third for gross value added by manufacturing, sixth for productivity, and fourth for patent activity. Singapore is also focused upon education, with 91.09% of eligible citizens either enrolled in or having completed some form of tertiary education in 2021.

Switzerland ranked as the third-most innovative country in the world in 2021. Switzerland ranked third for research and development, fourth for researcher concentration, and fifth for value added by manufacturing. Switzerland is among the countries with the highest spending on research and development in relation to GDP. The private sector accounts for more than two-thirds of Switzerland’s R&D expenditure.

Germany, which ranked #1 in 2020, fell to the fourth spot. Full of well-known tech companies and countless new tech start-ups, Germany ranked third for its density of high-tech companies. Germany also ranked sixth for gross value added by manufacturing, which primarily comes from its car-making industry, and 7th for R&D intensity. Germany is most known for its engineering, home to Volkswagen, Siemens, and more. Germany's government strongly supports research and development through both universities and organizations. Additionally, Germany is now a global leader in medicine, military technology, and infrastructure.

Ranking fifth overall,Sweden invested SEK 155.5 billion (US$154 billion) in R&D in 2017, which helps explain why the country achieved 2021 rankings of fourth for research and development intensity, sixth for high-tech density, and seventh for both tertiary efficiency and researcher concentration. Following Sweden is Denmark, which ranks second for researcher concentration and eighth for both R&D intensity and high-tech density. The majority of research is done in the higher education sector and expenses are mostly allocated towards health services R&D. Additionally, Denmark ranks third in the world for productivity.

Israel ranks first in the world for both R&D intensity and researcher concentration. Israel’s large pool of STEM talent, entrepreneurial talent, low costs of R&D talent have made it a competitive country in the global R&D market, with many U.S.-based clients. Israel even competes with Silicon Valley. Apple, IBM, AT&T, Samsung, GE, Paypal, Microsoft, and Motorola are only a few of the many tech giants that have an R&D presence in Israel. Finland is a jack of all trades, ranking between 10th and 17th in the world in all seven metrics. The country excels in technology and high-tech solutions. Finnish innovations include the Linux operating system and text messaging.

The Netherlands burst into the top 10 most innovative economies in 2021. But with rankings like seventh in the world in high-tech density, eighth in researcher concentration, and ninth in patent activity, it's easy to imagine the country hanging around in the top 10 for many years to come. The Netherlands is Europe's largest supplier of high-tech goods. Rounding out 2021's top 10 is Austria, which ranks sixth in the world for R&D intensity and ninth for both manufacturing value added and concentration of researchers. Austria's economy has numerous strengths, including its service, mechanical engineering, and organic farming sectors.

The United States is the eleventh-most innovative country in the world. Home to Google, Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, and countless other the United States ranks first in the world for its concentration of high-tech companies. The United States also ranks first for patent activity, becoming the leader in the protection of intellectual property. Home to world-leading technology companies such as Google, Facebook, Apple, and Microsoft, the United States is a powerhouse in global technology. Silicon Valley inspired and produced an entire generation of software engineers and technology companies and is currently home to some of the world's biggest tech companies. The U.S. has made significant advances in space technology, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications. The U.S. also has the largest and most technologically advanced military in the world. However, the United States' scores for higher education decreased in 2020/21, particularly in the government's policies toward international students and the way universities responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the U.S. economy fell to eleventh place.

Additional highly innovative countries include France (home of tech companies such as Dassault Systèmes, Mention, and AgoraPulse); Japan; Belgium; and China.

Country	Global Innovation Index Overall Rank 2023	GII Total Score 2023	GII Inst. 2023	GII HC&R 2023	GII Inf. 2023	GII MS 2023	GII BS 2023	GII K&TO 2023	GII CO 2023
Switzerland	1	67.60	2	6	4	7	5	1	1
Sweden	2	64.20	18	3	2	10	1	3	8
United States	3	63.50	16	12	25	1	2	2	12
United Kingdom	4	62.40	24	8	6	3	13	7	2
Singapore	5	61.50	1	2	8	6	3	10	18
Finland	6	61.20	3	5	1	12	4	4	16
Netherlands	7	60.40	6	13	14	15	8	8	9
Germany	8	58.80	22	4	23	14	16	9	7
Denmark	9	58.70	5	9	3	21	12	12	10
South Korea	10	58.60	32	1	11	23	9	11	5
France	11	56.00	27	17	22	9	17	16	6
China	12	55.30	43	22	27	13	20	6	14
Japan	13	54.60	21	18	13	8	11	13	25
Israel	14	54.30	40	20	36	11	6	5	33
Canada	15	53.80	14	10	30	4	18	19	22
Estonia	16	53.40	11	34	5	5	25	20	15
Hong Kong	17	53.30	8	15	9	2	28	51	3
Austria	18	53.20	13	11	12	39	19	17	13
Norway	19	50.70	4	19	7	29	22	28	23
Iceland	20	50.70	9	24	10	32	15	25	20
Luxembourg	21	50.60	7	31	31	35	7	38	11
Ireland	22	50.40	15	28	18	51	14	14	26
Belgium	23	49.90	30	14	44	26	10	15	30
Australia	24	49.70	17	7	19	17	24	30	24
Malta	25	49.10	34	39	17	43	21	36	4
Italy	26	46.60	52	33	21	40	33	18	21
New Zealand	27	46.60	12	21	29	31	29	39	28
Cyprus	28	46.30	41	38	32	38	31	23	17
Spain	29	45.90	46	27	16	33	32	24	29
Portugal	30	44.90	35	23	45	42	34	32	19
Czech Republic	31	44.80	36	30	24	82	27	21	32
United Arab Emirates	32	43.20	10	16	15	25	23	59	50
Slovenia	33	42.20	38	25	20	68	26	27	48
Lithuania	34	42.00	19	42	43	34	35	29	41
Hungary	35	41.30	47	36	42	64	30	26	38
Malaysia	36	40.90	29	32	51	18	36	37	47
Latvia	37	39.70	39	43	33	61	37	49	31
Bulgaria	38	39.00	66	66	28	60	42	34	34
Turkey	39	38.60	105	41	50	36	46	44	27
India	40	38.10	56	48	84	20	57	22	49
Poland	41	37.70	76	40	47	67	41	40	35
Greece	42	37.50	63	29	38	66	62	43	39
Thailand	43	37.10	85	74	49	22	43	42	44
Croatia	44	37.10	72	44	26	48	53	33	52
Slovakia	45	36.20	65	53	41	72	47	31	56
Vietnam	46	36.00	54	71	70	49	49	48	36
Romania	47	34.70	74	75	34	75	51	35	58
Saudi Arabia	48	34.50	45	35	48	28	45	68	66
Brazil	49	33.60	99	56	58	50	39	52	46
Qatar	50	33.40	23	54	39	44	73	82	65
Russia	51	33.30	110	26	72	56	44	54	53
Chile	52	33.30	49	58	52	47	55	58	59
Serbia	53	33.10	57	51	35	41	68	41	92
North Macedonia	54	33.00	75	78	40	30	60	53	69
Ukraine	55	32.80	100	47	77	104	48	45	37
Philippines	56	32.20	79	88	86	55	38	46	60
Mauritius	57	32.10	26	64	74	24	91	90	57
Mexico	58	31.00	111	63	65	57	79	57	45
South Africa	59	30.40	88	84	68	45	61	56	63
Indonesia	61	30.30	70	85	69	37	77	61	68
Iran	62	30.10	131	60	97	19	117	55	43
Uruguay	63	30.00	31	83	57	86	59	66	78
Kuwait	64	29.90	86	55	46	62	103	73	64
Georgia	65	29.90	25	69	80	77	58	72	81
Colombia	66	29.40	78	81	60	73	40	62	80
Bahrain	67	29.10	28	77	37	78	92	74	98
Mongolia	68	28.80	80	65	81	101	67	88	40
Oman	69	28.40	62	52	61	74	95	75	79
Morocco	70	28.40	83	86	94	80	107	65	55
Jordan	71	28.20	51	82	87	53	70	76	75
Armenia	72	28.00	69	92	79	89	94	67	61
Argentina	73	28.00	123	70	66	92	54	79	51
Costa Rica	74	27.90	48	79	62	90	63	70	89
Montenegro	75	27.80	82	62	56	54	66	80	85
Peru	76	27.70	81	50	63	52	52	101	74
Bosnia and Herzegovina	77	27.10	104	68	67	27	106	64	91
Jamaica	78	27.10	53	91	91	109	69	92	54
Tunisia	79	26.90	107	46	89	98	119	50	72
Belarus	80	26.80	128	37	71	99	74	47	88
Kazakhstan	81	26.70	61	59	59	87	75	83	90
Uzbekistan	82	26.20	55	89	73	69	78	78	93
Albania	83	25.40	60	96	53	93	50	91	87
Panama	84	25.30	77	103	55	102	124	87	67
Botswana	85	24.60	37	73	85	70	56	117	106
Egypt	86	24.20	103	95	90	88	100	77	73
Brunei	87	23.50	20	57	54	105	80	126	127
Pakistan	88	23.30	113	117	120	97	72	69	70
Azerbaijan	89	23.30	42	87	95	85	64	114	100
Sri Lanka	90	23.30	124	110	82	106	71	71	83
Cape Verde	91	23.30	44	97	64	96	65	98	108
Lebanon	92	23.20	125	72	96	46	76	86	96
Senegal	93	22.50	59	107	98	81	122	63	113
Dominican Republic	94	22.40	67	109	76	91	86	95	94
El Salvador	95	21.80	101	106	99	95	85	94	77
Namibia	96	21.80	50	76	100	84	99	123	104
Bolivia	97	21.40	132	61	104	16	81	106	102
Paraguay	98	21.40	112	129	83	79	87	109	76
Ghana	99	21.30	93	105	105	117	83	111	71
Kenya	100	21.20	84	118	107	108	84	81	95
Cambodia	101	20.80	87	101	108	59	125	93	103
Trinidad and Tobago	102	20.70	68	45	88	124	113	103	109
Rwanda	103	20.60	33	94	101	115	109	100	117
Ecuador	104	20.50	109	98	78	103	90	102	99
Bangladesh	105	20.20	108	125	93	100	126	89	82
Kyrgyzstan	106	20.20	122	49	92	71	114	96	116
Madagascar	107	19.10	121	102	131	113	123	121	62
Nepal	108	18.80	114	123	110	63	89	110	101
Nigeria	109	18.40	115	80	123	127	82	124	84
Laos	110	18.30	95	115	109	65	102	97	124
Tajikistan	111	18.30	90	99	122	94	110	85	123
Ivory Coast	112	18.20	71	128	106	123	96	118	97
Tanzania	113	17.40	73	126	115	83	105	119	120
Togo	114	17.40	102	111	117	111	131	108	105
Nicaragua	115	16.90	127	120	113	58	97	122	111
Honduras	116	16.70	126	90	112	107	104	107	114
Zimbabwe	117	16.50	130	104	119	121	112	113	86
Zambia	118	16.40	119	93	111	110	98	130	112
Algeria	119	16.10	97	113	102	125	120	128	107
Benin	120	16.00	58	114	114	118	111	116	129
Uganda	121	16.00	64	124	116	128	118	105	122
Guatemala	122	15.80	120	122	118	112	93	99	119
Cameroon	123	15.30	91	112	130	129	88	104	118
Burkina Faso	124	14.50	92	108	121	116	128	112	130
Ethiopia	125	14.30	116	131	132	114	130	84	126
Mozambique	126	13.60	129	116	103	122	129	127	115
Mauritania	127	13.50	89	119	124	130	108	115	131
Guinea	128	13.30	98	132	127	132	127	125	110
Mali	129	12.90	117	121	128	126	115	120	128
Burundi	130	12.50	106	100	126	131	121	131	125
Niger	131	12.40	94	130	125	120	116	129	132
Angola	132	10.30	118	127	129	119	132	132	131

Country

Global Innovation Index Overall Rank 2023

GII Total Score 2023

GII Inst. 2023

GII HC&R 2023

GII Inf. 2023

GII MS 2023

GII BS 2023

GII K&TO 2023

GII CO 2023

Switzerland

67.60