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Switzerland has once again been named the most innovative country in the world in a study by the United Nations (UN). It defended its top position in the innovation country comparison in 2022 ahead of Sweden and the USA, the UN Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) announced in Geneva on Wednesday.

As in the previous year, Germany ranks eighth in this ranking. India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Uzbekistan and Brazil were among the countries with particularly good development in terms of innovation, it said. It should be noted that European countries are still the most strongly represented among the top 20 places. "They are not losing momentum," said WIPO expert Sacha Wunsch-Vincent. China currently ranks 12th.

Remarkably, with the Munich region, Germany is represented among the world's top 10 innovation and technology clusters of the UN organization. Also striking: 24 of the top 100 clusters are located in China (click here for the entire evaluation).

The first ten places in the innovation ranking are occupied by the following countries:

  • Switzerland

  • Sweden

  • United States

  • Great Britain

  • Singapore

  • Finland

  • Netherlands

  • Germany

  • Denmark

  • South Korea

    • According to WIPO, a significant decline in venture capital could have negative consequences for the innovative strength of many countries. Last year, venture capital plummeted by 40 percent year-on-year – a trend that even worsened in the first half of 2023, down 47 percent year-on-year. The main reason is rising interest rates. "It's the end of cheap money," said Wish-Vincent.

    The ranking is based on 80 criteria such as investment, education, government research spending and development of online products. A total of 132 economies were analyzed. Burundi, Iraq and Guinea are at the bottom of the list.

    beb/dpa