Global Innovation Index 2021: Which are the most innovative countries? (2024)

The 2021 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) presents the latest global innovation ranking of 132 economies, relying on 81 different indicators. While tracking the most recent global innovation trends in the new Global Innovation Tracker, this edition also focuses on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on innovation.

The GII's overall formula for measuring an economy's innovative capacity and output provides clarity for decision makers in government, business and elsewhere as they look forward to creating policies that enable their people to invent and create more efficiently.

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The world’s most-innovative economy in 2021 is Switzerland followed by Sweden, the United States of America (U.S.), the United Kingdom (U.K.) and Republic of Korea, according to the GII 2021 rankings.

How does your location rank in terms of innovation?

Find out more about the GII 2021 rankings

In spite of the human and economic toll of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and enterprises in many parts of the world have increased their investments in innovation. Scientific output, expenditures in research and development (R&D), intellectual property filings and venture capital (VC) deals continued to grow in 2021, building on strong pre-crisis peak performance.

The Global Innovation Tracker is a new feature of the Global Innovation Index 2021 that captures key innovation trends. It uses a set of indicators identified in the three stages of the innovation journey:

"As the world looks to rebuild from the pandemic, we know that innovation is integral to overcoming the common challenges that we face and to constructing a better future. The Global Innovation Index is a unique tool to guide policy-makers and businesses in charting plans to ensure that we emerge stronger from the pandemic."

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 analyzing their annual GII results and designing policy responses to improve their performance.

Published anually, the core of the GII provides performance measures and ranks 132 economies on their innovation ecosystems. The Index is built on a rich dataset – the collection of 81 indicators from international public and private sources – going beyond the traditional measures of innovation since the definition of innovation has broadened.

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2020 – Who Will Finance Innovation?

The GII 2020 shed light on the state of innovation financing by investigating the evolution of existing mechanisms and pointing to progress and remaining challenges.

2019 – The Future of Medical Innovation

The GII 2019 analyzed the medical innovation landscape of the next decade, looking at how technological and non-technological medical innovation will transform the delivery of healthcare worldwide.

2018 – Energizing the World with Innovation

The GII 2018 analysed the energy innovation landscape of the next decade and identifies possible breakthroughs in fields such as energy production, storage, distribution, and consumption.

2017 – Innovation Feeding the World

The GII 2017 reviewed the state of innovation in agriculture and food systems across sectors and geographies.