China Overtakes Germany in UN Innovation Ranking
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – China has entered the top ten of the United Nations Global Innovation Index (GII) for the first time, displacing Germany and underscoring Beijing’s drive to become a global technology leader.
The 2024 report, released Tuesday, shows Switzerland retaining first place for the thirteenth consecutive year, followed by Sweden and the United States. China secured the 10th spot, while Germany slipped to 11th among 139 economies evaluated on 78 innovation indicators.
According to the GII, China is rapidly closing the gap in private-sector research and development spending, positioning itself to become the world’s largest investor in R&D. The survey also warns of a global slowdown, with R&D growth expected to drop to 2.3 percent in 2024, down from 2.9 percent last year, the weakest rate since the 2010 financial crisis.
The report highlights China’s dominance in international patents, contributing about one-quarter of global applications in 2024, while the United States, Japan, and Germany—together responsible for roughly 40 percent of patents—recorded slight declines.
WIPO Director General Daren Tang said, “The challenge for Germany is how, alongside its strong, decades-long status as a really powerful engine of industrial innovation, to become a powerhouse of digital innovation.”
GII co-editor Sacha Wunsch-Vincent added that Germany should not be alarmed by its ranking, noting that trade tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have yet to show their full impact.
The rest of the top ten after the US and before China are: South Korea, Singapore, Britain, Finland, the Netherlands, and Denmark.
