Britain has dropped further down the world’s innovation league table, falling to sixth place in the latest global rankings published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (Wipo).
The UK was ranked fifth last year and fourth in 2024, with the latest slip raising fresh concerns about the country’s ability to remain competitive against fast-rising rivals.
The annual Global Innovation Index measures nearly 140 economies on 80 indicators, including research and development spending, venture capital activity, high-tech exports and intellectual property filings.
Switzerland once again claimed the top spot, followed by Sweden and the United States. South Korea rose sharply to fourth place, climbing from 11th in 2019, while China entered the global top ten for the first time.
Lord Vallance, the UK’s science minister, said he was “not happy with the direction of travel” but insisted the government had a plan to reverse the trend.
“We have clearly got the potential with the science base that we have got, the start-up base that we have got and the entrepreneurs we have got to be at the forefront,” he said. “Of course I don’t want us to be slipping down that ranking. I want us to go in the other direction and that is my big focus in this ministerial job.”
In Europe, Germany fell two places to 11th and France slipped to 13th, despite Paris stepping up efforts to attract UK tech firms post-Brexit.
The Wipo report also highlighted strong performances from emerging economies. Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Brazil, Mauritius, Bahrain and Jordan have all been among the fastest climbers since 2020.
Global growth in research and development spending slowed to 2.9 per cent in 2024, down from 4.4 per cent the previous year and the lowest rate since 2010. Wipo expects it to weaken further this year to 2.3 per cent.
While companies in AI, software and pharmaceuticals raised investment, the slowdown was driven by cuts in automotive and consumer goods sectors.
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UK falls to sixth in global innovation rankings as rivals surge ahead