The 2016 European Innovation Scoreboard was released last week by the European Commission. The survey ranks countries and regions based on 25 innovation indicators, with countries falling into four categories of performance (Innovation Leaders, Strong Innovators, Moderate Innovators and Modest Innovators): countries that rank over 20% above the EU average are Innovation Leaders, which consist of Denmark, Finland, Germany, Sweden and the Netherlands; countries scoring between 90% and 120% of the average EU performance are Strong Innovators, such as Austria, Belgium, France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovenia and the UK; countries between 50% and 90% of the EU average are Moderate Innovators, such as Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain; and Bulgaria and Romania, performing below 50% of the EU average, are Modest Innovators.

From 2008 to 2015, innovation performance grew in the EU as a whole. However, among the Innovation Leaders, performance relative to the EU’s average began to decline during the past two years. Strong Innovators Luxembourg and Ireland were the top performing countries within their group, with Luxembourg leading in 2008–2010 and 2013–2014 and Ireland leading in 2011–2012 and 2015. Growth was on a steady rise for Moderate Innovators for the eight years of 2008 to 2015, with Latvia and Malta having an average annual growth rate of 4.0% and 3.6%, respectively. In Bulgaria, performance increased by an average annual rate of 1.4% within the eight-year period, while Romania’s performance growth is the weakest of all EU countries, falling 4.4% since 2012.

Switzerland, the most innovative country in the EU, has faced a decline in growth since 2011, though it was still performing approximately 52% above the EU average as of 2015. Turkey moved up from a Modest to Moderate Innovator from last year, with a growth rate of 5.1%. Israel and Ukraine are new additions to the Scoreboard, growing 11% and 34%, respectively, relative to overall EU performance in 2015.

Different countries excel in different areas of innovation. Sweden delivers the highest quality of academic education, as it frequently collaborates with other countries and has the top-ranked research output quality. Finland’s financial framework outshines other countries due to its public sector’s strong support of R&D activities, as well as the accessibility of funding from private companies for new technological developments. Companies in Germany invest the most in innovation, both for science R&D activities and non-R&D activities. Belgium is the top ranking country for collaboration and networking, as it has the greatest number of in-house innovation collaborations with public organizations, while Ireland leads in innovation activities of small and medium-sized companies.

The EU’s research output sector grew 6.5% from 2008 to 2015, namely due to its high performance in international scientific collaborative publications. Simultaneously, however, the R&D finance and support sector declined 5.9% due to diminished venture capital investments.

The Scoreboard forecasts that the EU Innovation Index will continue to rise, growing 2.5% within two years due to an almost 10% increase in non-R&D innovation spending, a 1.5% increase in R&D expenditure in the business sector and a 5%–10% increase in sales of new product innovations. R&D expenditure in the public sector is forecast to decrease 1%–5%. Globally, the Scoreboard suggests the performance gap between the EU and Japan and the US is narrowing, the gap towards South Korea is increasing and the lead over China is diminishing.