The USA Is Still Not The Most Innovative Country In The World

Switzerland ranks at the top for the 12th year in a row—above the U.S., South Korea, and Israel.

2022 12 17 11 01 18

Since 2000, global investment in research and development (R&D) has tripled to $2.4 trillion.

R&D spend is also casting a wider global net. In 1960, the U.S. made up nearly 70% of global R&D spending, and by 2020 this had fallen to 30%. From job creation and public health to national security and industrial competitiveness, R&D plays a vital role in a country’s economic growth and innovation, impacting nearly every corner of society—either directly or indirectly.

Along with R&D spend, other key ingredients play an important role in driving progress and innovation. These include technological adoption, scientific research, and venture capital activity, among others.

In the infographic below, Visual Capitalist’s Dorothy Neufeld ranks the world’s most innovative economies using data from the UN’s WIPO Global Innovation Index.

What Defines an Innovative Economy?

Innovation is inherently challenging to quantify, but the Global Innovation Index is a longstanding attempt to do just that.

The framework used for the index was designed to create a more complete analysis, comprising of 81 indicators across seven categories to calculate a country’s score:

As the above table shows, the framework aims to identify indicators that foster an innovative environment and breakthrough technologies.

It’s worth noting that each country’s overall innovation score is a mix of these categories, and countries with similar scores can be strong in different areas.

The 50 Most Innovative Countries in 2022

Switzerland ranks at the top for the 12th year in a row—above the U.S., South Korea, and Israel.

For many, this may come as a surprise. However, the country’s intellectual property rules are considered world-class, and they are complemented by strong collaboration between universities and industry. In addition, the country attracts top talent thanks to its high quality of living.

At second is the United States, which is a top spender on R&D at over $700 billion per year. Globally, four of the five top R&D spending companies are in America: Amazon ($42.7 billion), Alphabet ($27.6 billion), Microsoft ($19.3 billion), and Apple ($18.8 billion).

Rank

Country / Region

Score

1

🇨🇭 Switzerland

64.6

2

🇺🇲 U.S.

61.8

3

🇸🇪 Sweden

61.6

4

🇬🇧 United Kingdom

59.7

5

🇳🇱 Netherlands

58.0

6

🇰🇷 South Korea

57.8

7

🇸🇬 Singapore

57.3

8

🇩🇪 Germany

57.2

9

🇫🇮 Finland

56.9

10

🇩🇰 Denmark

55.9

11

🇨🇳 China

55.3

12

🇫🇷 France

55.0

13

🇯🇵 Japan

53.6

14

🇭🇰 Hong Kong

51.8

15

🇨🇦 Canada

50.8

16

🇮🇱 Israel

50.2

17

🇦🇹 Austria

50.2

18

🇪🇪 Estonia

50.2

19

🇱🇺 Luxembourg

49.8

20

🇮🇸 Iceland

49.5

21

🇲🇹 Malta

49.1

22

🇳🇴 Norway

48.8

23

🇮🇪 Ireland

48.5

24

🇳🇿 New Zealand

47.2

25

🇦🇺 Australia

47.1

26

🇧🇪 Belgium

46.9

27

🇨🇾 Cyprus

46.2

28

🇮🇹 Italy

46.1

29

🇪🇸 Spain

44.6

30

🇨🇿 Czech Republic

42.8

31

🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates

42.1

32

🇵🇹 Portugal

42.1

33

🇸🇮 Slovenia

40.6

34

🇭🇺 Hungary

39.8

35

🇧🇬 Bulgaria

39.5

36

🇲🇾 Malaysia

38.7

37

🇹🇷 Turkey

38.1

38

🇵🇱 Poland

37.5

39

🇱🇹 Lithuania

37.4

40

🇮🇳 India

36.6

41

🇱🇻 Latvia

36.5

42

🇭🇷 Croatia

35.6

43

🇹🇭 Thailand

34.9

44

🇬🇷 Greece

34.5

45

🇲🇺 Mauritius

34.4

46

🇸🇰 Slovakia

34.3

47

🇷🇺 Russia

34.3

48

🇻🇳 Vietnam

34.3

49

🇷🇴 Romania

34.1

50

🇨🇱 Chile

34.0

https://www.visualcapitalist.com/most-innovative-countries-2022/