Which are the most Innovative Economies of 2019?
Countries snagging the top spots based on seven equally weighted metrics of the Bloomberg Innovation Index
Every year for the past seven years, Bloomberg Innovation Index ranks global economies based on varied metrics which are scored on a scale of 0–100. The ranking process for 2019 started off with 200 countries. Economies which reported data in less than six of these metrics were eliminated from the ranking. The final tally was 95 with Bloomberg publishing the results for top 60 economies (Figure 1).
Rankings Overview:
- Six-time champion South Korea retained the top spot although barely, followed closely by Germany which jumped two spots, while Finland climbed four to take the third spot.
- Israel was the biggest gainer in Top 10 with a jump of 5 positions sitting at Number 5.
- The runner-up Sweden in 2018 saw the biggest loss in Top 10 dropping down to Number 7.
- Brazil rejoined the list ranking at the 45th spot after not being included in the 2018 list.
- The United Arab Emirates made the highest debut ever appearing at Number 46.
- Tunisia & Ukraine were the biggest losers dropping nine & seven spots, going down to Number 52 & 53 respectively.
- Romania was the biggest gainer with six spots sitting at Number 29. Thailand & Israel each jumped 5 spots.
- South Africa at Number 51 is the only sub-Saharan country to feature in the Index.
- And finally emerging economies like India(54), Mexico(59), Vietnam(60), and Saudi Arabia(56) made their debut on the list.
Seven Metrics:
- Research & Development (R&D) — Accounts for the total spending on human skills and development in an economy.
- Patent Activity — Number of Patents filed and awarded measured against the country’s population, GDP and global total.
- Tertiary Efficiency — related to higher education. Enrolment at universities & graduate levels along with STEM graduates (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths).
- Value-added Manufacturing — which contributes towards exports and domestic economic growth.
- Productivity — of the working-age population in an economy.
- Research concentration — Professionals engaged in high-end research & development roles.
Individual Metrics Performance:
➤ South Korea attributed its top spot to the highest percentage of GDP (4.3%) spent on R&D. Israel was a close second with 4.2% spending.
➤ Overall the U.S moved up to 8th place this year after being pushed out of the Top 10 last year on account of the weak educational scores. The increased patent activity brought it back in the Top 10 this year.
➤ Singapore is the leader in Tertiary efficiency spending almost 20% of its annual budget on education.
➤ Ireland has been a surprise topper in Labor Productivity & Value-added manufacturing owing to Leprechaun economics — approximately 4.5% productivity increase between 2000–2016, with a mammoth jump of 26.3% in GDP in 2015 alone (later revised to 34.4%) caused by a large influx of multinationals.
➤ Some of the biggest high-tech companies call the U.S their home making the country an innovation hub.
➤ Denmark leads OECD countries with 10% of the cited publications coming from Danish research.
➤ China continues to climb the overall ranking overtaking the UK for the first time. Currently ranked at Number 16.
Innovation is an integral and the most important component in modern-day economics. It is not just about adopting cutting edge technology but discovering new and efficient models that provide robust and sustainable growth.
