The World Intellectual Property Organization released its 2026 Global Innovation Index on 29 September, comparing 139 economies using 79 indicators. Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Singapore occupied the leading positions in the organisation's assessment.
The report describes an uneven innovation landscape, including renewed activity linked to AI alongside differences in investment and capability between economies. Its measures cover a wider system of institutions, skills, infrastructure and outputs rather than simply counting inventions or ranking individual companies. Policymakers can use that breadth to identify strengths and gaps, but an overall position should be read together with the underlying indicators. Changes in rank alone do not explain the causes of an economy's innovation performance.