In this article, we discuss 5 most innovative countries in the world. If you want to see more most innovative countries in the world, go directly to 15 Most Innovative Countries in the World.
#5 Switzerland
Switzerland ranks #1 on the 2022 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) given its strong scores in many indicators including ranking first in the knowledge and technology outputs indicator and #1 in the creative outputs indicator. While Switzerland is highly innovative on a per capita basis, it only has a population of 8.698 million as of 2021, compared to a population of 331.9 million for the United States, which ranks lower in the GII rankings but higher in our rankings.
#4 Germany
Germany has the fourth largest economy in the world by nominal GDP with a gross domestic product of $4.223 trillion in 2021. The country also spends a lot on innovation given it invested 3.14% of its GDP in 2020 on research and development expenditures according to the World Bank. Germany is also a leader when it comes to science & technology (S&T) clusters with 10 of the top 100 clusters according to GII in the world in the country. That actually ranks Germany higher than Japan in that metric.
#3 Japan
Japan ranks #3 on our list given it has a larger GDP than Germany with a nominal gross domestic product of $4.937 trillion last year. The country also spent 3.26% of its GDP in 2020 on research and development expenditures, which is a little higher than what Germany spent. While it has fewer top 100 S&T clusters with 5 according to GII, some of the country’s S&T clusters are bigger as Japan’s Tokyo–Yokohama science & technology cluster ranks #1 in the world.
#2 China
China is the world’s second most innovative country given its nominal GDP of $17.73 trillion in 2021 and its substantial spending on R&D. For 2020, the country spent 2.4% of its gross domestic product on research and development which helped China innovate in important sectors such as renewable energy and drones. Given its large market, many innovations can also achieve critical mass easier and faster in China than in countries with a smaller population or economy.
#1 United States
Although it ranks #2 on the Global Innovation Index’s list for 2022, the United States ranks #1 on our list of 15 Most Innovative Countries in the World.
Not only does the United States have the largest economy in the world with a GDP of $23 trillion in 2021, but also the country has many leading innovative companies with substantial resources and a government that also supports innovation by private enterprise.
In addition to having a huge market which could lead to substantial demand for innovation, the United States also has a lot of intellectual capital to help create innovation. From 1901 to 2021, the United States led the world in terms of Nobel Prize winners with 400, versus the United Kingdom’s 138 and Germany’s 111. Of the world’s top universities, the majority are arguably American and many of the world’s best and brightest come to America.
Given the United States has the biggest economy and the world’s dominant reserve currency, the country also has more resources than any other country to invest in future innovations that could help improve living standards.
The recent breakthrough in fusion, which is the same process that powers the sun, is a great example. Given the country has substantial resources and the government is supportive of innovation, the United States has spent many billions into trying to develop fusion despite numerous set backs. As a result of hard work and the country’s innovative strength, U.S. scientists at the National Ignition Facility at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved a fusion reaction that produced a net energy gain for the first time ever this year. Although it might take a while before fusion becomes a commercial technology, the achievement is nevertheless a testament to the American strength in innovation.
With commercialized fusion technology, it may be possible in the future to have virtually limitless clean energy that can solve many of the world’s problems.
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