WIPO Innovation Index: Germany ranks 11th, China enters top ten globally for the first time

(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) The latest innovation index of the United Nations World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is released. Germany's ranking maintains last year's position: 11th, down from the best ranking of 8th in 2022.

China ranks 10th. In last year's ranking, China entered the top ten most innovative economies for the first time. Among 35 middle- and high-income economies, China ranks first. Middle- and high-income economies refer to countries and regions with per capita GDP between US$4,636 and US$14,375. In Asia, China is second only to South Korea and Singapore. In recent years, China's innovation rankings have continued to rise.

The top 10 most innovative countries in 2026 are Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, South Korea, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and China.

The World Intellectual Property Organization evaluates 139 countries on about 80 indicators, covering various aspects including research and development, high-tech trade, technical jobs and intellectual property licensing.

Germany lags behind in the application of digital information technology

As the Munich-based German Patent and Trademark Office highlights, the index shows that Germany has a robust innovation system. However, it also points out that Germany performs significantly worse than most of the top-ranked countries on a number of indicators that are crucial for economic development.

In terms of digital information technology application, Germany ranks only 60th, down 3 places from last year. Germany ranks 94th in foreign direct investment inflows. In the indicator of culture and measures to promote entrepreneurship, Germany ranks 36th. Culture here refers to the social and cultural norms that promote or hinder entrepreneurial activities. Germany scores well in areas such as human capital and research and development (3rd) and the proportion of engineering graduates (5th).

The WIPO report states that artificial intelligence is driving the use of venture capital: total investment in innovative start-ups and business ideas increased by 28% in 2025, reaching US$510 billion. This is the strongest annual growth since 2021.

The field of artificial intelligence accounts for 53% of global venture capital investment, and in the first half of 2026, this proportion reached 77%. WIPO predicts that global R&D spending is expected to grow by 3.6% this year, reaching US$3.4 trillion.

Innovation cluster: China first, Germany third

Like last year, this report also announced the ranking of the top 100 "innovation clusters". The top 10 are: Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou takes the top spot again, followed by Tokyo-Hengban, San Jose-San Francisco, Beijing, Seoul, Shanghai-Suzhou, New York, London, Boston-Cambridge, Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto.

China has a total of 25 innovation clusters among the top 100 in the world, the most in the world; Germany has 7, ranking third in the world, second only to China and the United States (20).