Six Facts: Global Innovation leaders

In this year’s Global Innovation Index, once again, Switzerland was ranked #1, followed by Sweden and the United States.

But India was the big surprise.

Global Innovation Leaders

1. Definition

Used to rank 133 countries, the Global Innovation Index has five categories of inputs and two for its outputs:

2. Rank

The three at the top–Switzerland, Sweden, the United States–have been there for the past four years. At the same time, Singapore made the most notable leap (from #8 to #4) while other trajectories like the Republic of Korea’s and Finland’s looked somewhat like a roller coaster. Then, not quite typically, Denmark sloped downward (#6 to #10)

3. Input and Output Scores

14 of the 78 indicators fueled Singapore’s climb while the U.S. was #2 with nine:

4. Science and Technology Clusters

Here is where China and India enter the picture:

5. The Specific Clusters:

6. India

India’s #39 rank was unusual for a lower middle income country with a per capita income of approximately $2,400. As a result, among the 133 countries in the WIPO index, The Economist noted that India was the standout overachiever.

During the past four years, they ascended to #39 from #48:

Our Bottom Line: Creative Destruction

Innovation truly makes a difference when the result is creative destruction. First described by economist Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950), creative destruction can be a painful process. Replacing existing industries with new businesses, skills, and ideas, it requires the structural changes that eliminate jobs and erase stale leadership. Yes, the results are economic growth and vitality. But also, we get the dislocation and distress that can block progress, destroy communities, and shift affluence.

The Global Innovation Indicators tell us where we might observe the most growth and the upheaval.

My sources and more: Today’s facts and diagrams were from The Economist and the Global Innovation Index 2024 Report. Details for India are here. Please note that parts of today’s “Bottom Line” were from a past econlife post.