Overview

• Switzerland kept the No. 1 spot in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index, followed by Sweden and the United States, with China ranked 10th and Germany slipping to 11th.
• China accounted for about one quarter of international patent applications in 2024, while the United States, Japan and Germany together held roughly 40% and posted slight declines.
• The report says China is on track to become the largest R&D spender as it narrows the private-sector financing gap.
• Global R&D growth is projected to slow to 2.3% this year from 2.9% last year, marking the weakest pace since around 2010.
• GII co-editor Sacha Wunsch-Vincent said Germany need not be alarmed and noted U.S. tariff effects were not reflected, while WIPO’s Daren Tang pointed to the need for Germany to build digital innovation strength.