Sweden second most innovative country in the world

Sweden ranks second when the world’s most innovative countries are measured in the UN’s intellectual property organization WIPO’s annual survey Global Innovation Index.

WIPO’s The Global Innovation Index examines 132 countries’ innovation opportunities and results based on 80 indicators. In addition to criteria such as patent and trademark applications, there are also indicators for creating apps for mobile phones, exports of high technology, political climate, education, scientific publications, infrastructure and idea creation. This year’s report is focused on innovation in the wake of covid-19.

The ranking has been published annually since 2007. Sweden has been in second place behind Switzerland for the past three years. The high investment for the third year in a row shows that Sweden has a strong continuity in the innovation area, but regardless of investment, the government will continue to prioritize innovation issues. They will be important in meeting our major societal challenges, both in the short and long term, not least the need for a green transition and the impact of digitalisation on companies, work tasks and people’s everyday lives.

The high investment in 2021 shows Sweden’s strong innovation system and ability to have high innovation capacity even during the ongoing pandemic. This year’s edition of the Global Innovation Index looks at this in particular, as innovation has been an important aspect both in the rapid availability of vaccines and in the rapid transition to a more digital society. The Government’s recently launched research and innovation bill places particular emphasis on the ambition to create better conditions for business and research. This is to develop Sweden as a nation of knowledge and strengthen the work with both today’s and tomorrow’s both complex and cross-sectoral challenges.

Sweden is once again one of the world’s most innovative countries. An important part is our unique ability to collaborate between business, academia, civil society and the public sector to gather strength and find solutions to our societal challenges. Our innovative power gives us opportunities to meet the green and digital transition, to create new products and services that can affect locally and globally and to create more jobs in Sweden