GENEVA, Aug. 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
China joins the ranks of the world's 25 most-innovative economies, while Switzerland, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Finland and Singapore lead the 2016 rankings in the Global Innovation Index (GII), released today by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
China's top-25 entry marks the first time a middle-income country has joined the highly developed economies that have dominated the top of the GII in its nine editions of surveying the innovative capacity of over 100 economies.
Despite China's rise, an "innovation divide" persists between developed and developing countries amid increasing awareness that fostering innovation is crucial to a vibrant, competitive economy.
"In this current economic climate, uncovering new sources of growth and leveraging the opportunities raised by global innovation are priorities for all stakeholders," says WIPO Director General Francis Gurry.
Fifteen of the top 25 economies in the GII come from Europe. Switzerland retains the top position for the 6th consecutive year. Following regional leaders Sweden and UK are Finland (5), Ireland (7), Denmark (8), Netherlands (9), and Germany (10), which joins the top 10 in 2016.
In Northern America, the U.S. (4) continues to be one of the world's most-innovative nations. Canada is ranked 15th.
In Africa, Mauritius takes the top spot at 53, followed by South Africa (54), Kenya (80), Rwanda (83), Mozambique (84), Botswana (90), Namibia (93), and Malawi (98).
In Latin America, Chile takes the top spot among economies in the region (44), followed by Costa Rica (45), Mexico (61), Uruguay (62), and Colombia (63). Brazil is at 69.
India, 66, is the top-ranked economy in Central and Southern Asia.
Israel (21) and Cyprus (31) are the top two nations in the Northern Africa and Western Asia region for the 4th consecutive year. Turkey ranks 4th and of the top five in this region, two are from the GCC: United Arab Emirates (41) and Saudi Arabia (49).
Singapore (6), the Republic of Korea (11), Hong Kong (China) (14), Japan (16), and New Zealand (17) lead in the South East Asia, East Asia, and Oceania region. The majority of GII innovation leaders are in this region or Europe. Among upper-middle-income economies, China (25), Malaysia (35), and Thailand (52) rank first in the region.
