Dates, events, facts

Innovation performance in the EU has improved year on year in spite of the continuing economic crisis, but the innovation divide between Member States is widening. While the most innovative countries have further improved their performance, others have shown a lack of progress. The overall ranking within the EU remains relatively stable, with Sweden at the top, followed by Germany, Denmark and Finland. Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia are the countries that have most improved since last year.  Drivers of innovation growth in the EU include SMEs and the commercialisation of innovations, together with excellent research systems. Who are the innovation leaders in the European Union? 

 Based on the Summary Innovation Index, the Member States fall into the following four country groups:

• Innovation leaders: Sweden, Germany, Denmark and Finland, all show a performance well above that of the EU average.
• Innovation followers: Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, the UK, Austria, Ireland, France, Slovenia, Cyprus and Estonia all show a performance close to that of the EU average.
• Moderate innovators: The performance of Italy, Spain, Portugal, Czech Republic, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Malta and Lithuania is below that of the EU average.
• Modest innovators: The performance of Poland, Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria is well below that of the EU average.