Innovation is the driving force of progress, materialising in new products, services, or processes that reshape industries and societies. Innovation activities include all developmental, financial, and commercial efforts undertaken by an organisation to improve. R&I supporting the green and digital transitions is crucial for the EU, addressing key challenges such as climate change, resource efficiency, and technological advancement. 

The European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) provides a detailed comparative analysis of the innovation performance of EU member states, neighbouring countries and selected global competitors, helping to identify strengths and areas for improvement. By tracking a wide range of indicators, from R&D expenditure to the number of doctorate students, the EIS offers valuable insights into the innovation landscape of each country. As one of the world’s oldest innovation indices, the EIS is a useful tool for policymakers, but also for scientists, academics, innovators, and the general public. 

In April 2024, the EFIS Centre took on the role of project coordinator for the 2024 EIS report and online tool, collaborating with a great consortium of partners. Together, we gave a new and fresh look to the report and improved the online tool with more interactive features to explore the data.  

You can read the 2024 EIS report, access and navigate the online interactive tool, and explore the country profiles. 

What are the main findings of the EIS 2024? 

In the EIS, innovation performance is measured by the summary innovation index (SII). The SII is the average of 32 indicators that measure a wide range of factors that affect innovation.  

Indeed, measuring innovation goes far beyond counting the number of new products or business processes that have been introduced on the market or brought into use in society. The EIS assesses innovation performance via four main categories: framework conditions (quality of the education system, publications, access to information technologies), investments (public and private investments, R&D expenditure), innovation activities (innovations introduced to the market, collaborations, intellectual property) and impacts (employment, sales and environmental). 

The EIS also classifies countries into performance groups, based on their performance relative to that of the EU as whole: 

  • Innovation Leaders perform above 125% of the EU average in 2024, with 4 Member States in that group this year. 
  • Strong Innovators perform between 100% and 125% of the EU average in 2024 (8 Member States). 
  • Moderate Innovators perform between 70% and 100% of the EU average in 2024 (9 Member States). 
  • Emerging Innovators performance below 70% of the EU average in 2024 (6 Member States). 

 

A few key highlights from the EIS 2024: 

  • The EU’s innovation performance improved by 10.0%-points between 2017 and 2024, and by 0.5%-points in the last year. 
  • Denmark retains its position as the most innovative EU Member State. 
  • All EU Member States improved their innovation performance between 2017 and 2024, except for Luxembourg. 
  • Estonia and Cyprus have achieved the strongest performance increase between 2017 and 2024. 
  • Estonia moved up from the Moderate Innovator group to become a Strong Innovator. 
  • Belgium, previously categorised as an Innovation Leader, is now among the Strong Innovators. 
  • Among EU Member States and neighbouring countries, Switzerland ranks first, at 138.4% of the EU average in 2024, 
  • South Korea remains the most innovative country in 2024, performing at 131% of the EU average in 2024.  
  • South Korea, Canada, the United States and Australia are leading over the EU.  

How to read the European Innovation Scoreboard?

The EIS can be complex and feel confusing with various reference years and a wide range of metrics used to track progress over time. So here are a few tips to make the most of the data: 

  • Make sure you understand which reference year is being used to describe innovation performance. The SII is often relative to the EU in 2017. However, as the EU and its Member States have evolved over time, the EIS also compares performance to the EU in 2024 to provide a snapshot of the current rankings.  For example, watch out for the difference between: “In 2024, Denmark performs at 149.3% of the EU average in 2017” VS “In 2024, Denmark performs at 135.7% of the EU average in 2024”.  The EU average is 100 in 2017, as it is used as a baseline. The EU average is 110.0 in 2024 – the EU improved by 10.0%-points between 2017 and 2024. 
  • Make sure you know which group of countries is being assessed; are you looking at EU Member States only, EU Member States and neighbouring countries, or the EU and its global competitors? This is especially important when looking at ranks or comparing the SII of various countries. It is also worth noting that the SII is calculated using a smaller set of indicators for global competitors, so global competitors and individual Member States should not be compared directly. 
  • Check out the country profiles and annexes (for example Annex B), as they provide ample information about individual countries. There you will find the scores for each individual indicator, line charts showing progress over time, structural indicators, and insights regarding the country’s performance. 
  • Try to relate innovation performance to structural indicators, as results and trends can be better understood by first describing the context in which they occur. Structural indicators can be found in the country profiles, and are often referred to in the main report. 
  • Play with the online dashboard: it contains many new interactive functions to compare countries to each other, visualise trends over time, or check out scores for specific indicators. 

 

What is next? 

The consortium, led by EFIS, will continue to work on the EIS over the next 3 years (2024 – 2027), including a revision this fall. In addition, the team will also work on the European Regional Scoreboard and the Eco-Innovation Index. Stay up to date with our publications by following us on LinkedIn.