WIPO Global Innovation Index 2025: Switzerland, Sweden, US, the Republic of Korea and Singapore Top Rankings; China enters Top 10

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

Switzerland, Sweden, the United States of America (US), the Republic of Korea and Singapore top the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 ranking, followed by the United Kingdom, Finland, Netherlands, Denmark and China, which breaks into the top 10 for the first time.

However, WIPO warns that slowing growth in innovation investments is clouding the innovation forecast, the report found.

The GII, in its 18th edition this year, is published by WIPO in partnership with independent nonpartisan research and educational the Portulans Institute.

The GII uses some 80 indicators, ranging from research and development (R&D) spending, venture capital (VC) deals, high-tech exports and intellectual property filings in evaluating nearly 140 world economies on their innovative performance. It is the world's benchmark resource for policymakers, business leaders and others in promoting innovation and building strong innovation ecosystems.

Now in its 18th edition, the GII shows that a group of middle-income economies — led by China, India (38th), Türkiye (43rd), Viet Nam (44th), the Philippines (50th), Indonesia (55th), Morocco (57th) — continue their climb in the GII. Since the turn of the decade, Saudi Arabia (46th), Qatar (48th), Brazil (52nd), Mauritius (53rd), Bahrain (62nd), and Jordan (65th), have been the fastest innovation climbers.

The full GII 2025 report can be downloaded from the WIPO website here, while WIPO has also developed a searchable database which allows for selection by country here.

Since its launch 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 GII results and designing policy responses to improve performance.

The GII Advisory Committee, the GII Industry Association Network (GIIIAN) and the GII Academic Network, which brings together 12 top-tier universities and research institutions from around the world to support and advance innovation-related research, provide guidance.

Published annually, the core of the GII provides performance metrics and ranks around 140 economies on their innovation ecosystems. The Index is built on a rich dataset – the collection of 78 indicators – going beyond the traditional measures of innovation since the definition of innovation has broadened.

WIPO Director General Daren Tang says:

“The GII 2025 maps the contours of innovation across the world, showing us that the fastest-advancing economies in the GII are those that view innovation as a fundamental engine of resilience, growth and competitiveness. This year's GII reveals both encouraging progress as well as challenges that still need to be addressed for countries to fully harness their innovation potential. It is a reminder that innovation ecosystems require support and nurturing through thoughtful policies, meaningful investments and cross-sector collaboration.”

Top 20 GII country rankings

1. Switzerland (Number 1 in 2024)

2. Sweden (2)

3. United States of America (3)

4. Republic of Korea (6)

5. Singapore (4)

6. United Kingdom (5)

7. Finland (7)

8. Netherlands (Kingdom of the) (8)

9. Denmark (10)

10. China (11)

11. Germany (9)

12. Japan (13)

13. France (12)

14. Israel (15)

15. Hong Kong, China (18)

16. Estonia (16)

17. Canada (14)

18. Ireland (19)

19. Austria (17)

20. Norway (21)

In GII 2025, 17 low- and middle-income economies are performing above expectations for their level of development, with India and Viet Nam as longest-running  innovation overperformers. Sub-Saharan Africa leads in the number of economies overperforming on innovation, with South Africa (61st), Senegal (89th) and Rwanda (104th) at the fore.

In addition to innovation rankings, the 2025 edition shows an uneven performance in leading indicators of future innovative activity.

Among the GII’s key findings:

• R&D growth fell to 2.9% in 2024, a slowdown from the 4.4% increase in the year prior and the lowest growth since the financial crisis of 2010. Growth is projected by WIPO to slow further in 2025 (2.3%).

• Corporate R&D spending in real terms slowed to 1% due to persistently high inflation —far below the 4.6% average of the past decade. ICT-related firms (particularly in AI-intensive sectors), software and pharma firms expanded R&D budgets, while manufacturing firms such as in the automotive sector and consumer goods cut R&D spend in a context of declining company revenues.

• VC investment values showed a rebound. Deal values rose 7.7% in 2024, largely driven by US-based megadeals and surging investment in generative AI. However, excluding these investments, VC value would have contracted.

• Furthermore, the number of VC deals fell 4.4% globally in a third consecutive year of decline, signalling persistent investor caution outside a narrow set of sectors and geographies.

• VC, which had been gradually expanding into a wider set of non-ICT sectors and emerging markets, now appears to be retreating toward its traditional core—namely the US-based AI- and ICT-related investments. This fails to sustain the earlier momentum toward broader sectoral and geographic VC diversification experienced just after the COVID-19 pandemic with strong VC influx into Latin America and Africa.

• International patent filings via WIPO rebounded (+0.5%), with strong growth in the Republic of Korea (+7%), but continued declines in the US, Japan and Germany.

• Technological progress – a dimension covered in the GII Global Innovation Tracker - remained strong: battery prices and supercomputer efficiency improved, while the cost of genome sequencing declined further.

• Technology adoption advanced but slowed: Growth remained evident in robotics and connectivity; high-speed rail networks, a new indicator in 2025, expanded. In turn, robot and EV adoption experienced a marked slowdown.

• Socioeconomic indicators improved—labour productivity and life expectancy rose, poverty declined further.

Daren Tang observes:

“While we see encouraging signs of recovery in areas such as innovation uptake and impact, the global innovation engine is not firing on all cylinders. Slower growth in R&D investments and declining VC activity reminds us that innovation requires sustained upstream and financial commitment.”

The GII 2025 has also investigated the world’s most effective innovation clusters – click here for details of the top clusters globally.