Global Innovation Index: India moves up to 66th rank this year

India scored a major improvement in its Global Innovation Index ranking this year, moving up to the 66th place from 81 in 2015. India’s better performance in the latest index readings was due to its strengths in tertiary education, software exports, corporate R&D and market sophistication. Among middle income countries, India (25) came second after China (17) in innovation quality, overtaking Brazil (27). China figured at the 25th position (29 in 2015), the only middle-income country in the top 25.

The annual index — released by WIPO, Cornell University, and the multi-nation business graduate school INSEAD — has been ranking world economies since 2007 according to their innovation capabilities using more than 80 indicators, including education, R&D, patent filings, knowledge and technology inputs and institutions. The report said India was starting to excel in ICT and creative goods exports, setting a good example of how policy was improving the innovation environment. Overall, Switzerland emerged as the global leader followed by Sweden, the UK, the US and Finland. Switzerland had ranked first in the 2015 index as well.