Sweden is still in the top position as an innovation leader, according to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2021. After Sweden we find Finland, Denmark and Belgium.
In addition, Stockholm is ranked as the most innovative of 240 regions. Western Sweden, southern Sweden and eastern central Sweden are also among the top 25 regions.
The EU countries have improved their results regarding innovation by an average of 12.5 % compared with 2014. Overall, it is the countries that are ranked further down the list that have increased the most in terms of percentage, which reduces the innovation gap. According to the 2021 Regional Innovation Scoreboard, which was also recently published, this trend applies to innovation in EU regions.
Globally, the EU performs better than China, Brazil, South Africa, Russia and India, while South Korea, Canada, Australia, the United States and Japan perform better than the EU. This year’s results are based on a revised framework that includes new indicators for digitalisation and environmental sustainability, which makes the scoreboard more in line with the EU’s political priorities.
