Global Innovation Index 2024: India climbs one place to 39th rank, tops in Central and Southern Asia

This was confirmed in a report released by the Geneva-based World Intellectual Property Organization. With this, India continues to remain at the top among the 10 economies in Central and Southern Asia and also 1st among lower-middle-income economies. Notably, India was at 40th place in last year's Global Innovation Index rankings. 

"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 added.

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. "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," according to WIPO's Global Innovation Index (GII) 2024. India tops in lower middle-income group

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.

It should be noted here that Samsung Electronics in Bengaluru and the 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.