Iceland ranks 24th in WIPO’s Global Innovation Index 2024, down two places from last year
18. September 2025Statistics
Iceland is ranked 24th among the 139 economies in the newly released Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), falling two places compared with 2024. Iceland now ranks 20th in the Innovation Input Sub-Index, down five places year-on-year, while it holds steady in 29th place in the Innovation Output Sub-Index.
The Global Innovation Index is published for the 18th time and is based on around 80 indicators compiled from numerous international organizations and private sources. It has established itself as one of the leading benchmarks for measuring both innovation inputs and outputs worldwide. Iceland ranked 1st in 2010 and 13th in 2016. It should be noted, however, that since then methodological changes have been made to the framework and indicators, so results across time are not fully comparable.
World leader in electricity output per capita
Looking at individual indicators, Iceland ranks first globally in:
- Electricity output, GWh per million population (3.2.1)
- National feature films per million population aged 15–69 (7.2.2)
- Low-carbon energy use, % (3.3.2)
- Top-level domains (TLDs) per thousand population aged 15–69 (7.3.1)
Iceland also performs strongly in:
- Operational stability for businesses (1.1.1) – 4th
- Expenditure on education, % of GDP (2.1.1) – 6th
- Expected years of schooling (2.1.2) – 8th
- Scientific and technical articles per billion PPP$ GDP (6.1.4) – 5th
- Researchers, FTE per thousand labor force (2.2.1) – 10th
- Employment in knowledge-intensive services, % (5.2.5) – 6th
- University/industry research collaboration (5.2.3) – 7th
Weaknesses in market size, efficiency and STEM
Iceland ranks low in several important indicators, including:
- GDP per unit of energy use (3.3.1) – 128th
- Domestic market scale, billion PPP$ (4.3.3) – 133rd
- Creative goods exports, % of total trade (7.2.4) – 95th
- Graduates in science and engineering, % (2.2.2) – 98th
“The position of Iceland in the Global Innovation Index is in many ways positive and shows that we have a solid foundation to build on. But the decline in Iceland’s ranking in recent years is also a reminder of how important it is to continuously ensure favorable conditions for innovation and to work systematically to support the growth of knowledge-based industries. We have all the potential to do better, but this requires determined efforts by both public authorities and the business community."
Borghildur Erlingsdóttir
Director General of the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office
Pillar performance
Iceland’s position across the seven GII pillars in 2025 is mixed:
- Infrastructure – 2nd
- Institutions – 14th
- Creative Outputs – 19th
- Human Capital & Research – 31st
- Market Sophistication – 25th
- Business Sophistication – 18th
- Knowledge & Technology Outputs – 45th
Iceland's declining position
The reasons for Iceland’s weaker position compared to 2010 can be traced to two factors. First, more weight is now given to indicators influenced by the size and diversity of economies, making it unlikely for small economies to remain at the top of the ranking. Second, Iceland’s performance in innovation outputs has weakened in recent years, particularly in creative goods exports, industrial diversification, and the share of STEM graduates. At the same time, other countries have made faster progress and improved their relative position.
Further information on Iceland's position is to be found on WIPO's web.
Switzerland remains in the lead
Switzerland, Sweden, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Singapore take the top five positions in this year’s index, with Korea replacing the United Kingdom among the leaders. China enters the top 10 for the first time. The other Nordic countries all rank within the top 20: Sweden 2nd, Finland 7th, Denmark 9th, and Norway 20th. Norway was one place ahead of Iceland last year and has now moved up one more place.
About the Global Innovation Index
The Global Innovation Index is published annually by WIPO and in 2025 appears for the 18th time. The index is based on about 80 indicators drawn from international organizations and private sources, measuring innovation inputs and outputs across around 140 economies. Since its first publication in 2007, the GII has set global standards for innovation measurement and provided a basis for policymaking around the world.
About WIPO
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations. Iceland has been a member since 1986. WIPO administers the treaties that provide the international framework for IP rights, including global registration systems, application and registration procedures, and the role of national IP offices. WIPO also convenes working groups to modernize treaties and practices, and holds its General Assemblies annually. The Icelandic Intellectual Property Office is represented in WIPO committees on patents, trademarks and designs.