A new report from the European Commission has ranked Switzerland as the most innovative nation in Europe for 2024. The country was pushed to the top of the order thanks to its universities and willingness to work with partners from abroad.

European Innovation Scoreboard 2024

To create the European Innovation Scoreboard, the commission analysed the 27 countries of the European Union and 11 other European states by how their economies and institutions are able to innovate. This ranges from the quality and quantity of research and development produced by different nations, to how governments and entrepreneurs push local firms to innovate with new products and services.

32 different indicators were used to place each nation on the list, “covering the economy, business and entrepreneurship, innovation profiles, governance and policy frameworks, climate change and demographics.” These ratings were then combined into an overall score.

Switzerland remains the most innovative nation in Europe

This year, Switzerland was ranked as the most innovative country in Europe, holding on to its position from last year. The commission gave the alpine nation a score of 152,2, just ahead of Denmark (149,3), Sweden (146,2), Finland (140,6) and the Netherlands (138,3).

While the country scored highly across most categories, the report gave specific praise for how public and private institutions work together in developing new technologies. Switzerland’s willingness to work with institutions abroad, and the number of international doctoral students it welcomes to its universities, were also major strengths.

Compared to 2017, Switzerland has seen a lot more capital investment pumped into its research and development, and more people have gone into further education such as “life-long learning programmes”. Small to medium enterprises were also praised for their proficiency in developing new products.

Swiss firms falling behind in producing green tech

However, the report also found some areas where Switzerland can improve. Specifically, the country was rated below the EU average when it came to developing environmental technologies. This ties into a recent report from the Swiss Energy Foundation, which argued that Switzerland is no longer at the forefront of developing green energy.

The EU Commission was also critical of how the Swiss government does little, both directly and indirectly, to help support businesses in research and development compared to other nations in Europe. Finally, they noted that while the country’s small to medium businesses are great at developing new technologies, they are not as good at improving their internal processes. 

Europe's 10 most innovative countries in 2024

In all, here are the 10 most innovative nations in Europe:

1. Switzerland (152,2)
2. Denmark (149,3)
3. Sweden (146,2)
4. Finland (140,6)
5. The Netherlands (138,3)
6. Belgium (136)
7. Norway (128,7)
8. Austria (127,9)
9. United Kingdom (126,3) 
10. Ireland (124,5)

For more information about the study, check out the official website.

Thumb image credit: Suteren Studio / Shutterstock.com