Global Innovation Index 2025: Croatia move up, Switzerland top

Split

ZAGREB, 18 September 2025 (Hina) – Croatia has improved its standing in the latest Global Innovation Index (GII), climbing to 40th place out of 139 economies, according to results published by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva.

The index, now in its 18th edition, is regarded as a key benchmark for measuring innovation performance worldwide.

It evaluates economies using 81 indicators across seven categories, including institutions, human capital and research, infrastructure, market sophistication, business sophistication, knowledge and technology outputs, and creative outputs.

Croatia’s ranking represents progress compared to previous years, when it was placed 42nd and 43rd. Officials noted that due to model adjustments and statistical margins, Croatia’s ranking this year falls within the range of 39th to 43rd place.

Croatia performed best in the field of infrastructure, jumping from 23rd to 16th place, while also making progress in human capital and research (40th), creative outputs (44th), and business sophistication (53rd).

The country improved slightly in its weakest category – institutions – rising from 68th to 65th. It was placed 54th for market sophistication. However, Croatia slipped in knowledge and technology outputs, falling from 32nd to 37th.

Among its individual strengths, Croatia ranked first globally for its student–teacher ratio in secondary education, sixth for its environmental performance, and eighth for industrial diversification.

It also scored highly in unicorn company value relative to GDP (14th), cultural and creative service exports (16th), and ICT use (18th).

Key weaknesses remain in several areas, including demographic dividend (128th), university–industry research collaboration (101st), business-friendly policies (99th), and entrepreneurial culture (86th).

Overall, Croatia maintains 37th place among 54 high-income countries and has moved up to 26th in Europe, an improvement from 27th last year.

Compared to its level of economic development, Croatia’s innovation performance is now in line with expectations, after previously underperforming.

Switzerland leads, China enters top ten

Globally, Switzerland retained its number one position for the 15th consecutive year, followed by Sweden and the United States.

South Korea surged to fourth place, ahead of Singapore (5th), the United Kingdom (6th), Finland (7th), the Netherlands (8th), Denmark (9th), and China (10th).

China has entered the top ten for the first time and is the only middle-income economy to do so.

Other fast-rising economies over the past decade include India, Turkey, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Morocco, Albania, and Iran.

Seventeen middle- and low-income countries recorded above-expected innovation results this year, with India and Vietnam standing out for sustaining strong performances for the 15th consecutive year.