Global Innovation Index 2026: Brazil holds 53rd position in WIPO’s global innovation ranking

Global Innovation Index 2026: Brazil holds 53rd position in WIPO’s global innovation ranking

On September 29, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) launched the 19th edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII), under the theme “Powering Entrepreneurs at the Frontier of Science”. The report assesses 139 economies and maps the world’s top 100 innovation clusters, that is, geographical concentrations of innovative activities, with data mostly referring to the period from 2024 to 2026. This year’s edition highlights entrepreneurship based on deep science, focused on the development of new technologies arising from scientific advances, particularly in areas such as life sciences, semiconductors, robotics, space, energy and advanced materials.

The GII is an annual WIPO index that assesses the innovation performance of economies based on 79 indicators, organized into seven pillars. They cover institutions; human capital and research; infrastructure; market sophistication; business sophistication; knowledge and technology outputs; and creative outputs.

At the global level, innovation investments were generally positive again in 2025, although growth in most indicators remained below the trend observed over the past decade. Scientific output reached a record 2.4 million articles in 2025. Global research and development (R&D) investment grew by 4.7 percent in real terms in 2024, when China slightly surpassed the United States in total spending.

The value of venture capital deals, a form of financing aimed at companies with growth potential, increased by around 28 percent in 2025, reaching USD 510 billion. Artificial intelligence accounted for 53 percent of deal value that year and 77 percent in the first half of 2026. In intellectual property, by contrast, patent application filings under the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) grew by only 0.7 percent.

At the top of the GII 2026 ranking, stability remains the main characteristic. Switzerland ranks first for the 16th consecutive year, followed by Sweden, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Singapore. No new economy entered the top 15. Europe accounts for 14 of the top 25 economies, while China, ranked 10th, remains the only middle-income economy among the top ten.

The report identifies an “innovation glass ceiling” for the advancement of other middle-income economies. The expression refers to the difficulty of continuing to narrow the gap with high-income economies after certain initial advances. Convergence has been easier in areas such as production and exports, startup finance and intellectual property, but more difficult in building a knowledge base and in research and development, which depend on accumulated scientific capacity and long-term investment. Among the middle-income economies that have advanced the most since 2013, China is the only one to have already reached high-income levels of performance in 21 of the 25 indicators used in this comparison.

Brazil ranks 53rd in the GII 2026 and second in Latin America and the Caribbean, behind Chile (51st). Since 2019, the country has been part of a new wave of economies that have been advancing in the ranking and, for the sixth consecutive year, is the only economy in the region classified as an overperformer, that is, one whose innovation performance exceeds what would be expected for its level of development.

Among Brazil’s main strengths are trademark activity, in which it ranks 8th, payments for the use of intellectual property, ranked 13th, late-stage venture capital, ranked 16th, corporate R&D investors, ranked 23rd, and utility models, ranked 24th. São Paulo ranks 49th among the world’s top 100 innovation clusters, reinforcing the concentration of research, technology and entrepreneurship activities in the state.

The special theme of this edition also brings a relevant perspective on intellectual property (IP). According to the report, more than 30,000 deep science startups and university spinouts have been created since 2000, with a combined value of USD 7.6 trillion, based on their latest known valuations. These companies operate in areas that require prolonged research, specialized infrastructure and validation processes before reaching the market, and may take 5 to 15 years to generate revenues. In this context, patents play an important role in the period between invention and commercialization, constituting one of the few verifiable assets capable of supporting access to financing, the formation of partnerships and licensing agreements. According to WIPO, 49.7 percent of deep science startups hold patents, compared with 15.4 percent of other startups.

The proportion of startups holding patents increases as companies advance through their stage of development, rising from around 43 percent at the early stages to 69 percent at the more advanced stages. Among the different deep science sectors, Medical Devices and Digital Health has the highest proportion of startups holding patents globally, at 57.8 percent. In Brazil, HiLab is among the leading holders of deep science patents in middle-income economies, with 10 patent families, all related to the Medical Devices and Digital Health sector.

The GII 2026 thus points to relatively stable global leadership, while middle-income economies continue to advance and face difficulties in overcoming the “innovation glass ceiling”. The report also highlights that different regions are following their own innovation trajectories and that income level alone does not determine innovation performance, which depends on the ability to connect research, financing, institutions and markets.

The report is available on: Global Innovation Index 2026 – Executive Version

Note: For quick release, this English version is provided by automated translation without human review.