'Strong in Crisis'... South Korea Ranks 5th Globally in Innovation Index, Highest Ever

Provided by the Korean Intellectual Property Office

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] South Korea has risen to the 5th position globally in the Global Innovation Index.

According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korean Intellectual Property Office on the 21st, South Korea ranked 5th, its highest ever, in the Global Innovation Index announced by the UN-affiliated organization World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

The Global Innovation Index has been measured since 2007 by WIPO and the European School of Management, targeting WIPO member countries to assess key innovation capabilities such as future economic development, providing information necessary for public policy or management strategy formulation in each country.

This year, 132 countries were included in the Global Innovation Index evaluation. The results showed that Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, and the United Kingdom ranked 1st to 4th respectively for the second consecutive year, with South Korea selected as 5th.

In particular, South Korea rose five places compared to last year, achieving the highest ranking among Asian countries. In the global rankings, Asian countries such as Singapore (8th), China (12th), and Japan (13th) followed South Korea.

South Korea's rankings in the Global Innovation Index have improved over the years: 21st in 2012, 14th in 2015, 12th in 2018, 11th in 2019, 10th in 2020, and 5th in 2021.

South Korea's five-step rise in this year's Global Innovation Index is attributed to its continued investment in the future and active creation and dissemination of intangible assets through investment, despite internal and external difficulties such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Through this, South Korea was confirmed to have ranked first globally in 9 out of 81 detailed indicators (compared to 4 last year).

The domestic indicators ranked first globally include ▲patent applications relative to GDP ▲PCT applications relative to GDP ▲patent families (applications in two or more countries) relative to GDP ▲design applications relative to GDP (all related to intellectual property) ▲researchers per capita ▲corporate researchers per capita ▲government online services ▲e-government online participation ▲and the proportion of high-tech exports.

Kim Yong-rae, Commissioner of the Korean Intellectual Property Office, said, “The reason South Korea was able to raise its Global Innovation Index ranking by five places is due to ‘innovative efforts to overcome crises’ and the resulting achievements,” adding, “The Korean Intellectual Property Office will continue to build an institutional foundation to effectively utilize and protect intellectual property rights, which are creative ideas and innovative outcomes.”