Switzerland, Sweden, the US, Singapore and the UK are the world’s most innovative economies, while China, Turkey, India, Vietnam and the Philippines are the fastest “decadal climbers,” the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) said on Thursday.
Daren Tang, the group’s head, told reporters at an online press conference that its Global Innovation Index 2024 “shows a softening in venture capital activity, R&D financing and other investment indicators.” Tang said:
“In 2023, we saw a decline in R&D expenditures, a reduction in scientific publications, and a scaling back of venture capital investments to pre-pandemic levels. However, technological progress remained strong in 2023, particularly in health-related fields like genome sequencing, as well as in computing power and electric batteries.”
On Turkey, the report said it “continues to make progress, climbing two places” in the innovation index. It also added:
“It also takes the 3rd position among the upper middle-income group. Türkiye stands out in various areas: it ranks 1st globally in trademarks and industrial designs, and 9th in intangible asset intensity – all showing an improvement this year.”
The 17th edition of the index, according to WIPO, is a global benchmarking resource that reflects global innovation trends and guides governments, business leaders and other organisations in unleashing human ingenuity to improve lives and tackle challenges such as climate change.
According to the organisation, the 2024 index shows a significant softening of leading indicators of future innovation activity, including a pullback from the explosive growth in innovation investment between 2020 and 2022.
There is a rise in interest rates, a fall in venture capital funding of around 40 per cent in 2023, lower growth in research and development spending, and a fall in international patent applications and scientific publications.
