Europe is strengthening its innovation performance despite growing global competition, according to the European Commission’s 2026 European Innovation Scoreboard.
The report shows the EU’s overall innovation score has increased by 11.6 percentage points since 2019, with a further 1.7-point rise between 2025 and 2026. Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands remain Europe’s innovation leaders, while Malta has moved up to join the group of strong innovators.
Globally, South Korea continues to top the rankings, with China recording the fastest improvement in recent years, underlining the increasingly competitive international landscape.
The annual Scoreboard measures innovation across 32 indicators, including research and development investment, digital infrastructure, patents and startup activity. The findings will help shape upcoming EU initiatives, including the European Innovation Act and policies aimed at helping startups and scaleups grow.
European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation Ekaterina Zaharieva said the results demonstrate the resilience of Europe’s innovation ecosystem but warned that “the global race is ever tougher,” stressing the need for continued investment and support to maintain Europe’s competitive edge.
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