Innovation Scoreboard results show how EU is improving at national and regional level

The Innovation Scoreboard 2023 highlights a substantial improvement in innovation performance of around 8.5% since 2016, confirming the EU’s commitment to fostering innovation culture.

Innovation performance in 25 countries improved over this period, albeit at a slower pace in recent years. And 20 Member States have significantly increased their innovation performance over the past year, while only seven have seen a decline.

Globally, the EU continues to perform slightly better than China and the performance gap with Australia is narrowing, although it has widened with respect to Canada, the Republic of Korea and the United States.

Main conclusions of the Innovation Scoreborad 2023

Based on the results, Member States are divided into four performance groups:

• Innovation leaders – Performance above 125% of the EU average.
• Major innovators – Performance between 100% and 125% of the EU average.
• Moderate innovators – Performance between 70% and 100% of the EU average.
• Emerging innovators – Performance below 70% of the EU average.

Despite undeniable progress, the EU innovation gap persists and is characterised by geographical concentration. While the innovation leaders and most of the major innovators are located in Northern and Western Europe, many of the moderate and emerging innovators are located in Southern and Eastern Europe.

This dividing line highlights the need for targeted efforts to close the innovation gap and foster equitable growth across the EU, which is one of the objectives of the New European Innovation Agenda, which was adopted in July 2022.

Through strategic initiatives, such as the Deep Tech Talent Initiative, the Innovation Talent Platform, and the Regional Innovation Valleys, the EU aims to foster deep tech innovation and promote a start-up culture.

More information about the Innovation Scoreboard

The Innovation Scoreboard has been considered the benchmark since 2001 for analysing the innovation performance of EU countries, the Union’s neighbours, and global competitors.

The Regional Innovation Scoreboard, in addition, provides a comparative assessment of research and innovation performance in 239 regions in 22 EU Member States.

Both scoreboards provide a comprehensive assessment of innovation strengths and weaknesses at the national and regional levels, enabling countries to identify areas for improvement.