Israel’s Position in the Latest Global Innovation Rankings: An Overview
Innovation is a critical driver of economic growth, technological leadership, and national resilience. Several respected international indices evaluate countries’ innovation performance through a combination of inputs (such as research and development spending, talent, and infrastructure) and outputs (such as patents, startups, and knowledge dissemination). This article summarises the three most recent prominent global rankings with a dedicated focus on innovation and related capabilities, placing particular emphasis on Israel’s performance.
The three rankings covered are the Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the U.S. News & World Report Best Countries for Innovation & Enterprise (2026 edition), and the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2026.
1. Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 – WIPO
The Global Innovation Index 2025, published in September 2025, is the most comprehensive annual assessment of national innovation ecosystems. It ranks 139 economies using 78 indicators divided into innovation inputs and outputs.
Top 10 economies in 2025:
- Switzerland (15th consecutive year at number one)
- Sweden
- United States of America
- Republic of Korea
- Singapore
- United Kingdom
- Finland
- Netherlands
- Denmark
- China (entering the top 10 for the first time)
Israel’s ranking: Israel is placed 14th overall (improving one position from 2024), with a score of 52.3. It performs particularly well relative to its size among high-income economies.
Key strengths highlighted for Israel:
- Global leader (1st place) in overall R&D expenditure, venture capital received, university–industry R&D collaboration, and R&D performed by businesses.
- Strong results in knowledge and technology outputs, including top rankings in venture capital received and unicorn company valuation.
- Israel shares third place (with Hong Kong, China) for the highest number of indicators in which it ranks first worldwide (seven indicators each).
These results reflect Israel’s highly effective innovation model, characterised by intense private-sector R&D activity, a thriving startup ecosystem, and close cooperation between academia and industry. The GII underscores how smaller economies can achieve outsized impact through targeted investment and collaborative structures.
Source: World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), Global Innovation Index 2025: Innovation at a Crossroads. Full report and country profiles available at wipo.int. Israel-specific profile: wipo.int/gii-ranking/en/israel.
2. U.S. News & World Report – Best Countries for Innovation & Enterprise (2026 Edition)
This ranking forms part of the annual U.S. News Best Countries survey and specifically evaluates nations on innovation-related metrics, including GDP productivity, patent activity, R&D investment levels, and research output quality.
Top 10 in the Innovation & Enterprise category (2026):
- Switzerland
- Denmark
- Israel
- Germany
- South Korea
- United Kingdom
- Sweden
- Singapore
- Austria
- Netherlands
Israel’s ranking: Israel achieves a strong third place globally. This places it ahead of many larger economies and highlights its exceptional ability to convert research investment into patents, productivity gains, and commercially successful innovations.
The result aligns with Israel’s established strengths in high-tech entrepreneurship and applied research.
Source: U.S. News & World Report, Best Countries rankings – Innovation & Enterprise category (usnews.com/news/best-countries/rankings/innovation-enterprise).
3. IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2026 (with Innovation Focus) – Detailed Analysis of Israel’s Position
The IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, published annually by the IMD World Competitiveness Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, evaluates 70 economies across four primary factors: Economic Performance, Government Efficiency, Business Efficiency, and Infrastructure.
The 2026 edition was released in June 2026. Innovation is not treated as a standalone pillar but is strongly embedded within the framework, most notably in the Business Efficiency factor (which includes criteria such as R&D expenditure, innovation capacity, scientific infrastructure, and entrepreneurship) and the Infrastructure factor (particularly scientific and technological infrastructure).
Top 10 economies in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking:
- Singapore
- Hong Kong SAR
- Switzerland
- Taiwan (Chinese Taipei)
- United Arab Emirates
- Denmark
- Ireland
- Netherlands
- Sweden
- United States of America
While the 2026 overall ranking for Israel is not prominently featured in publicly available summaries of the latest edition, Israel has demonstrated consistent excellence in innovation-related sub-factors across multiple years of the IMD assessment. A standout and recurring strength is R&D intensity. Israel has long ranked at or near the global top in total R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP — a core indicator under the Business Efficiency factor.
Recent independent data confirm that Israel’s R&D spending exceeds 6% of GDP (reaching approximately 6.3% in 2023 figures), more than double the OECD average. This places Israel in a clear leadership position in this specific metric, reflecting its heavy emphasis on private-sector and business-performed R&D.
Within the IMD framework, this high R&D intensity directly supports strong performance in related sub-factors such as scientific infrastructure, researcher density, and the capacity for technological innovation.
In previous editions (for example, the 2023 ranking), Israel achieved an overall position of 23rd out of 64 economies at the time, with notable relative strengths in areas tied to innovation and business sophistication. Although exact sub-factor breakdowns for Israel in the 2025 and 2026 editions are not detailed in public summaries, the structural advantages in R&D expenditure and business-driven innovation remain consistent features of Israel’s profile in the IMD methodology.
These strengths contribute to Israel’s ability to maintain a competitive edge in knowledge creation and high-tech entrepreneurship, even as broader competitiveness also depends on macroeconomic conditions, government efficiency, and infrastructure development.
The IMD ranking therefore highlights Israel’s innovation ecosystem through its emphasis on measurable inputs like R&D intensity, which underpins Business Efficiency and positions Israel as a global leader in this dimension despite its smaller economic scale.
Source: IMD World Competitiveness Center, World Competitiveness Ranking 2026 and accompanying Yearbook. Available at imd.org/centers/wcc/world-competitiveness-center/rankings/world-competitiveness-ranking/.
Conclusion
The three most recent prominent international rankings paint a consistent picture of Israel as a global leader in innovation relative to its size and resources.
In the Global Innovation Index 2025, Israel ranks 14th with world-leading positions in R&D expenditure, venture capital, and university–industry collaboration. The U.S. News Innovation & Enterprise ranking (2026) places Israel third globally, recognising its strong performance in patents, research output, and productivity. Within the IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2026, Israel continues to excel in key innovation sub-factors, particularly through its world-leading R&D expenditure as a share of GDP, which strengthens its standing in the Business Efficiency dimension.
Together, these assessments highlight Israel’s distinctive innovation model — one built on exceptionally high private-sector R&D investment, a dynamic entrepreneurial culture, close academia-industry linkages, and effective commercialisation of technology. Sustaining and strengthening these advantages will remain essential for Israel’s continued contribution to global technological progress.
Primary Sources
- WIPO Global Innovation Index 2025: wipo.int/web-publications/global-innovation-index-2025
- U.S. News & World Report Best Countries – Innovation & Enterprise 2026: usnews.com
- IMD World Competitiveness Ranking 2026: imd.org (World Competitiveness Center)
All data and rankings reflect the latest editions available as of June 2026.
Tools used for research, translation, proof reading, verification of codes/equations, pic generation etc.: LLMs / SE / BusinessSoftware / Parsers / DB/ Websites etc. All articles: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs) hold by Dr. Naftali Hirschl. Pic by AI (illustrative).