Per the World Intellectual Property Organization’s (WIPO) 2024 Global Innovation Index released on September 26, 2024, China ranks eleventh, up a spot from 2023 and returning to its 2022 rank. Switzerland, Sweden, and the United States are the top three innovative countries per the Index. China, for a second consecutive year, leads with the most science and technology clusters (26) in the top 100. The United States follows, with 20 clusters, then Germany with eight.

Some other highlights from the report:

• In 2023, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent applications fell by almost 2 percent. This marked the first decline since the financial crisis in 2009, which saw a more significant drop of almost 5 percent. Despite a minimal reduction in number, China maintained its position as the leading origin of PCT patent filings, in 2023. The United States and Japan followed, even though they experienced a steeper decline of 5.3 percent and 2.9 percent, respectively. 
• Geographically, the industrial robot market was dominated by five countries: China, Japan, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Germany. Together, these five countries accounted for 74 percent of the operational stock of robots in 2022. Over time, there has been a noticeable shift in robot adoption. Japan, the United States and Germany have seen a decrease in their share, whereas China’s share has increased significantly.
• Electric vehicles accounted for 18 percent of global car sales in 2022. The market was dominated by China, Europe and the United States, which together constituted around 95 percent of total EV sales.

The full report is available here.