India climbs one notch to 39th rank in the Global Innovation Index 2024

New Delhi: India climbed one place to 39th rank out of 133 economies in the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024 rankings, according to a report by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization.

Last year, the country was ranked 40th.

"India rises to 39th position among 133 global economies in the Global Innovation Index 2024," Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said in a post on social media platform X.

India's innovation landscape continues to flourish, powered by our innovators and entrepreneurs, he said.

The consistent improvement in the GII ranking is owing to the knowledge capital, vibrant start-up ecosystem, and the amazing work done by the public and private research organisations.

The GII is a reliable tool for governments across the world to assess the innovation-led social and economic changes in their respective countries.

Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, Singapore and the United Kingdom are the world's most innovative economies, while China, Turkiye, India, Viet Nam and the Philippines are the fastest 10-year climbers, according to WIPO's Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024.

The GII is the world's benchmark resource charting global innovation trends to guide policymakers, business leaders and others in unleashing human ingenuity to improve lives and address shared challenges, as climate change.

In the GII ranking of 130-plus economies, China reached the 11th position and remains the only middle-income economy in the GII top 30.

"In Central and Southern Asia, India (39th) continues to lead, moving one spot forward. The Islamic Republic of Iran (64th, down by two places) comes second, followed by Kazakhstan (78th). Uzbekistan (83rd) retains its 4th position within the region," it said.

It added that India leads the lower middle-income group. It holds the record for overperforming on innovation for the 14th consecutive year.

"India's strengths lie in key indicators such as ICT services exports (at 1st place, globally), venture capital received and intangible asset intensity. India's unicorn companies also secure the country the 8th rank globally," it added.

Samsung Electronics in Bengaluru and Indian Institute of Science (IISC)-Bangalore figured in the top 100 science and technology clusters in the index. S&T clusters in Delhi, Chennai and Mumbai have also made it to the top 100 list.

"Clusters located in other middle-income economies besides China also experienced strong S&T output growth," WIPO said.