While the top spots remain unchanged, significant shifts are taking place beneath the surface.
Switzerland tops the ranking for the 16th consecutive year, followed by Sweden and the United States, with South Korea and Singapore rounding out the top five. Europe once again dominates the upper tier, placing 14 economies among the top 25, while Asia accounts for five. The most notable shift within the European context sees Spain rise to 28th alongside Italy in 27th—in a region where the core challenge remains translating scientific and industrial strength into high-growth ventures and growth capital.
Beneath this apparent stability lies genuine momentum: the United Arab Emirates enters the top 25, Canada (16th), Australia (20th), and New Zealand (24th) regain ground, and Portugal achieves a record high by breaking into the top 30.
China surpasses the United States in R&D spending, while AI dominates venture capital investment.
Global innovation investment is undergoing a significant structural shift, according to the report. Global R&D spending expanded by 4.7% in real terms in 2024, with China overtaking the United States in total R&D investment for the first time. Corporate R&D expenditure among the world’s leading firms hit a record $1.5 trillion, fueled primarily by software- and AI-intensive companies.
Venture capital funding rebounded sharply—up 28% to $510 billion—even as deal count declined for the fourth consecutive year. The most striking figure: AI accounted for 53% of total global venture capital deal value in 2025, a share that surged to 77% in the first half of 2026.
Emerging economies rise, but hit a glass ceiling
The report highlights a structural trend among middle-income economies that have spent years climbing the rankings: China (10th), India (38th), Vietnam (43rd), Turkey (45th), and Morocco (54th) have made significant strides since 2013, though their convergence with high-income economies remains selective rather than uniform. The gap has closed most rapidly in export capacity, startup financing, and intellectual property, while progress has been considerably slower when it comes to knowledge bases and R&D capability.
China stands out as the exception that proves the rule, matching advanced-economy benchmarks across 21 of the 25 indicators analyzed. For the rest, reaching the next tier will depend on whether they can bolster their current strengths with deeper research ecosystems and stronger ties between science, industry, and finance.
Clusters: China and the US dominate, and Shenzhen leads for the second year running
The ranking of the world’s top 100 innovation clusters underscores a growing geographical concentration. Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou tops the list for the second consecutive year, followed by Tokyo-Yokohama and San Jose-San Francisco. China now boasts 25 clusters among the top 100, compared to 20 in the United States.
In terms of per-capita innovation intensity, San Jose-San Francisco and Cambridge (UK) are the clear leaders. In the European Union, Eindhoven and Helsinki top the list, highlighting that cluster scale and innovation density do not always go hand in hand.
The special theme: over 30,000 deep-science startups, valued at $7.6 trillion
The 2026 edition devotes its special focus to the global ecosystem of deep-science ventures. Over 30,000 deep-science startups—spanning sectors such as semiconductors, biotechnology, robotics, energy, and advanced materials—have been founded since 2000, representing a 9.5-fold increase compared to 2010. Their combined valuation has reached $7.6 trillion, up 23% from 2024.
The report introduces the first global tracker of its kind for these companies, developed in collaboration with Dealroom, and identifies a pattern of systematic friction: ventures stall at the exact same transition points time and again—from pilot to commercial deployment, from laboratory to bankable project, and from proven technology to profitable business. The bottleneck is no longer invention; it is industrialization.
The bottleneck is no longer invention; it is industrialization.
The policy recommendation is clear: finance the entire translation pipeline—from proof-of-concept through to late-stage patient capital—and stimulate demand through public procurement and anchor-customer programs that turn technological breakthroughs into bankable projects.
Brújula’s Added Value: The innovation problem no longer lies in the laboratory
For decades, the debate on innovative competitiveness revolved around the same core question: how much is being invested in research? More R&D spending, more patents, more scientific publications. While the GII 2026 does not disregard these metrics, its most insightful analysis points in a different direction. The global innovation bottleneck has shifted. It no longer lies in the ability to generate scientific knowledge—which continues to expand at a record pace—but in the capacity to navigate the transitions required to turn that knowledge into industrial capacity: moving from pilot to commercial deployment, from proof-of-concept to bankable project, and from proven technology to a profitable venture.
More than 30,000 deep-science startups, valued at $7.6 trillion, face systematic friction at these exact same friction points. This is not due to a shortage of scientific talent or ambition, but rather to a lack of mid-stage patient capital, shared testing infrastructure, public demand to anchor early contracts, and managerial talent equipped to bridge the gap between laboratory and market. The challenge for the coming decade is not generating more science. It is building the institutional and financial engineering needed to bring that science where it matters most.
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