India retained its 40th rank out of 132 economies in the Global Innovation Index 2023 rankings published by the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) on Thursday. The ranking was topped by Switzerland, followed by Sweden and the USA. India’s ranking has improved 26 places from 66th in 2013.
“The consistent improvement in the GII ranking is owing to the immense knowledge capital, the vibrant start-up ecosystem, and the remarkable work done by public and private research organisations,” NITI Aayog stated on Thursday.
“NITI Aayog has been working diligently to optimise national efforts for bringing policy-led innovation in various areas such as electric vehicles, biotechnology, nanotechnology, space, alternative energy sources, and so on.”
In the report, WIPO noted that, apart from India, only four other middle-income economies are among the top 40, namely, China (12th), Malaysia (36th), Bulgaria (38th), and Türkiye (39th). India was also highlighted as the top innovation economy among the lower-middle-income countries, followed by Vietnam and Ukraine.
“India, the Republic of Moldova, and Vietnam continue to set records by being innovation overperformers for a 13th consecutive year,” the report said.
Five economies host 80 per cent of all the world’s unicorns, namely, the US (54 per cent), China (14 per cent), India (6 per cent), the United Kingdom (4 per cent), and Germany (2 per cent). Out of a total unicorn valuation of $3.8 trillion in 2023, US unicorns accounted for $2 trillion, followed by China with $736 billion and India with $193 billion.
